Of Apples and Discord
by LiLy-saLvatore-cuLLen
Summary: Everything seemed to be going well for Percy Jackson since the defeat of Kronos 2 summers ago, but with the arrival of a new demigod whose parentage is yet to be determined, that causes unrest among the Gods of Olympus, comes another choice that is bestowed upon Percy. SEQUEL NOW COMPLETE AND POSTED.
1. Of Nightmares and Kisses

_I was walking through the woods hand-in-hand with my girlfriend of two years, Annabeth Chase. We were contentedly silent as we walked through the moonlit groves. Suddenly, Annabeth stopped._

"_What is it? What's wrong?" I asked her._

"_I have a terrible feeling, Percy… I can't explain it." She answered me._

_I turned her around to face me and stroked her cheek._

"_Don't worry," I started, "Nothing can get to us when we're together. We've proven that millions of times." I smiled and hugged her to me. She was shivering slightly._

"_This is different, Percy… something's wrong… I can't put my finger on it."_

_She looked up at me, her grey eyes narrowing in fear._

"_Annabeth, it's okay…" But I put my hand down to check that Riptide was with me, just in case. I knew never to doubt Annabeth. She was the daughter of Athena, after all._

_Annabeth looked down nervously. I held her arm's length away to talk to her directly. When she looked back up into my eyes, I let go of her quickly, pushing her away._

_Her eyes had turned a bright gold._

_An evil smile was pasted on her face._

_I backed away, drawing Riptide._

"_Perseus Jackson, I've waited so long to see you."_

_I gulped. It couldn't be… he was in Tartarus… how…?_

_I said something formidable and smart like, "What do you want?"_

_A laugh that wasn't Annabeth's escaped out of her possessed mouth. _

"_Oh… there are many things I want, Perseus Jackson, so kind of you to ask."_

_Her smile widened._

"_You'll find out soon enough what I want. Because it's already coming."_

_Annabeth laughed and faded away leaving me alone in the grove._

_Darkness engulfed me, and I was standing in blackness. Then, two giant golden eyes sped directly towards me. I barely had time to scream or raise Riptide to counterattack…_

I woke with a start, a cold sweat on my tan, bare chest. I sat up and ran my hands through my hair looking around frantically. I was in my cabin. The familiar glow of the newly-repaired saltwater fountain, a gift from my father, Poseidon, glimmered in the corner. I was breathing heavily.

Those eyes… such a bright gold…

What a nightmare.

I felt a shift beside me in my bed. I jumped and looked down. A lump was perceivable under my blue covers, and a cascade of golden curls peeked out from beneath.

Annabeth.

It was our first night back at Camp after graduating.

Annabeth had continued the ongoing habit of sneaking to my cabin during the night to spend the nights with me.

We didn't, uh… do anything. We just shared the bed. Honest to the gods.

Not that we hadn't thought about it… we'd talked and set boundaries. The most we've ever done is heavy make-out sessions. We didn't even remove clothes.

We usually just talked while snuggling together, stealing kisses every once in awhile.

Every night since we had shared that underwater kiss after the defeat of Kronos.

Thinking of Kronos sent another shiver down my spine and reminded me vividly of the nightmare I had just had.

I had to calm down.

It had only been a dream… right?

_No way, Percy. You know your dreams are always significant._

Oh, gods.

I didn't want to tell Annabeth and worry her.

She was leaving in the morning for three days to see to the finishing touches of the newly rebuilt Olympus. I had been there twice since she began, and she was doing an excellent job.

She was always working on Daedalus' laptop, chewing her fingernails and agitatedly brushing her hair behind her ears.

She was so beautiful when she concentrated.

Annabeth rolled over onto her back, and I could see her perfect face. My heart melted at the sight of it, like it always did.

Annabeth breathed evenly. Her mouth was parted slightly in slumber. So beautiful. My Wise Girl.

I lay back down and turned on my side facing her. I tucked a strand of her gorgeous locks behind her ear. She sighed and smiled slightly, but stayed asleep.

Not for long.

I leaned over closer to her and draped my arm over her waist. Bringing my face closer, I began to place light kisses from her collar bone, up her neck and to her chin. My mouth hovered above hers. I brought my hand up to stroke her face.

Her eyes fluttered open. At first there was confusion, and then they settled on my face. Stormy, grey eyes met oceanic green eyes.

Annabeth smiled sleepily.

"Hullo, Seaweed Brain. Couldn't wait a few more hours?" she said, sleep still making her voice sound groggy. She pushed a button on her watch and it glowed, showing her the time.

"It's 3:57 in the morning Perc. Why are you awake? You usually sleep like a rock."

I rolled on top of her, holding some of my weight on my elbows and forearms as to not crush her.

Her arms draped around my neck.

"Do I need a reason to love my Wise Girl? No matter what time it is?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"You're such a seaweed brain, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, but that's why you love me."

"It is."

She lifted her head slightly, seeking my mouth with hers. Our lips grazed each other's, seeking permission and preparing ourselves, noses brushing together.

I placed my lips on hers gently. Even while sleepy, my Annabeth was impatient. She nipped my bottom lip playfully and I hissed in pleasure. She took that opportunity to lick my lip, like she was apologizing for inflicting such a bite. I lifted my head and looked at her. She smiled slyly.

_Di immortales, _how can someone be _so _gorgeous when their hair looks like Nico did it?

I groaned as she placed a kiss on my Adam's apple.

I roughly placed my mouth back on hers, devouring her mouth. Annabeth didn't complain.

We fought for dominance before I won, placing my tongue in all the familiar crevices in her mouth.

Annabeth moaned and pulled me closer, giggling into my mouth.

Eventually we ran out of air and had to stop.

Panting, I rolled off of Annabeth and she turned on her side to look at me, a hand grazing my chest. I shivered.

"This is a nice dream." She said.

"It's not a dream." I answered.

"Mmm. I know, but my dream, before you woke me up, was just that, only this was _way _better."

"Yeah?"

"Did you dream about me?"

My stomach felt like all water had been drained from it. Like someone had pulled the plug in a bathroom.

"Percy? Are you okay?"

I looked at Annabeth and tried to smile.

I said something comforting to stop her from worrying like, "Uh…"

Annabeth chuckled slightly.

"My Seaweed Brain." And she fell back asleep.

I put my arms around her and settled in close behind her, drawing her to me.

Having her so close to me calmed me slightly, but I was still alone with my vivid memories of my nightmare.

I fell into an uneasy sleep.


	2. Of Farewells and Meetings

I woke up around 8 in the morning, still tired from lack of sleep.

I looked over to my side and saw that Annabeth had left. I wasn't worried. She usually left around 6 in the morning to sneak back to her own cabin. She was the head counselor for the Athena cabin, and it would look bad if she was found in the Poseidon cabin… plus, Chiron didn't allow campers to spend the night in other campers' cabins, so Annabeth and I had to be really sneaky. We'd gotten away with this for two years, so I wasn't really nervous about being discovered. It helped that Annabeth had a New York Yankees cap that turned her invisible, too. That could be a major part of the success of these endeavors.

I changed into my camp counselor shirt, orange, like the rest of the Camp Half Blood shirts, but on the back of mine, "Percy" was printed on the back, along with a trident.

Slipping on some khaki, knee-length shorts and grabbing Riptide, I made my way out of my cabin into the bright sunlight.

I could smell the strawberries as the satyrs and nymphs went around harvesting the ripe ones.

There was one satyr I didn't see though: my best friend, Grover Underwood.

I actually had no idea where he was at the moment, he would come and go. I suppose I could ask Juniper, his girlfriend, but she rarely knew where he was as well.

There were so many campers this summer. It helped that the gods and goddesses had taken my decree seriously, for new campers were showing up all the time. The satyrs were on trips constantly because so many new demigods were being revealed.

I glanced around, seeing demigods in armor preparing for lessons. Chiron galloped by in the distance with his bow and arrow, leading a group of demigods for archery. I was due at the ring in a few minutes to teach swordplay.

I wanted to find Annabeth first, though. She was leaving today.

I didn't need to look hard, because when I walked past the Dining Pavilion, Annabeth was finishing up some pancakes.

"Hey."

"Good morning, Percy." She smiled.

I stood by her table and waited as the stuffed the last few bites into her mouth.

She got up, wiping her mouth with a napkin and taking my hand.

We walked to the Athena cabin in silence. I suppose she was sad as well that she was leaving, as neither of us really knew what to say.

We entered the cabin, the musty smell of books filling my nose instantly.

I sneezed.

"Excuse you," Annabeth chuckled.

"I must be allergic to intelligence."

"That's because your brain is made of seaweed."

"Could be the reason."

I saw a packed duffle bag and laptop carrier sitting on Annabeth's bunk.

My face fell and I dropped Annabeth's hand. She noticed.

"Oh, Percy. It's only three days. Not even a week. We've been separated for longer than that." She hugged me.

"Never when we didn't have to be."

"Seaweed Brain… I'll be back before you know it." She had glassy eyes. I knew I wasn't the only one being emotional.

"You'll be so busy with the new campers and their sword lessons that you'll hardly miss me."

"I suppose."

"Besides, you owe Mrs. O'Leary a lot of playtime."

"Yeah."

She cupped my chin and brought my face to hers. Our lips met. It was gentle, loving and, oh gods I sound like a lovestruck idiot. Scratch that. I am one, but this is seriously mushy stuff.

We separated, but still held on to each other.

"I should go. Argus said he'd take me to town at 9."

"Yeah, I have to be at the arena at 9, too."

Annabeth pecked me on the lips one more time.

"I'll see you in three days, Seaweed Brain. Try not to get into much trouble while I'm gone." She winked.

I smirked, but as soon as she left through the doorway it disappeared.

Looking at my watch that was a shield in disguise, a gift from my brother, I saw that it was five to nine. I made my way to the sword arena, capping and uncapping Riptide out of boredom.

After I put on some armor, I entered the arena and saw a group of about 25 new demigods, ranging in age from about 9 to 14.

They were all dressed in armor, some was too big, and some was too small.

I could hear murmurings and whispers.

"That's Percy Jackson. He saved Olympus two years ago."

"He's the son of Poseidon."

"I heard he refused to become a god!"

"He swam in the River Styx!"

"He blew up a toilet his first year here."

"So I'm NOT the only one who blew up a toilet!"

"That's different. You just had too much to eat the other night."

"Hey!"

I couldn't help but smile to myself. Sure, everyone said I was the hero, but these days, people, especially newcomers, forgot all about Luke. This thought made me kind of sad. He's the one who ultimately destroyed Kronos. I just made the choice to let him take the dagger. I didn't deserve as much credit as I got, at least I didn't think so.

I lifted my arms to shush everyone down.

"Uh, hey everyone. I'm Percy, and I'll be your swordplay instructor this summer."

I took out Riptide.

"You're going to fight with a _pen?_" a short boy with red hair and freckles asked me.

"And what's your name?" I asked him, twirling my "pen" through my fingers. He was about 13 years old I guessed. He had some, er, puberty issues. Voice-cracking and all. I'm glad I was through with that stuff. Thalia, one of my good friends, daughter of Zeus, used to mimic me whenever it happened to me. Fun times.

"Greg, son of Hermes." He puffed out his chest, or what he had of one. This boy, in Lady Demeter's words, could use some cereal. Like, now. I was afraid he'd break by me just looking at him.

"So, Greg. You're _not _going to fight with a pen? You'd be surprised what pens can do."

"Whatever."

"Alright then, try me."

I beckoned him with my hand and held out Riptide, still in pen form, assuming defense position.

Greg wiped his nose, and adjusted his armor. Holding his sword with both hands, he ran at me screaming like a maniac, voice finding new octaves that I swear didn't exist. I easily dodged a swing and rolled to my right. Greg blundered past, the sword's weight carrying him. Getting to my feet, I faced him again. He turned around, panting, and came at me again. This time, I merely sidestepped as he drilled past once again. He fell over with his sword.

I twirled my "pen" again, strode up to him, kicked his sword away and pointed the tip of Riptide at his throat.

"First rule of swordplay: never underestimate your opponent."

I then uncapped Riptide and the three foot celestial bronze blade blasted out, stopping an inch from Greg's throat. His eyes bugged out, and I heard various gasps from the demigod crowd.

"Second rule of swordplay: Always…"

I stopped. The ground was shaking, pebbles lifting off the ground.

The demigods looked around warily, scared.

Suddenly, I was plowed over by a giant, brown, furry mass of slobber.

The other demigods screamed and backed away.

Mrs. O'Leary's tongue lapped my face.

"Mrs. O'Leary! Girl! I'm happy to see you too… just… get off before I become a Poseidon Pancake…"

Mrs. O'Leary backed off of me, tongue hanging out, making it look like she had a large grin on her face. I stood up, and wiped the drool off of my face. The demigods were huddled against each other in a group of trembles.

"Uh… no need to worry. This is my dog, Mrs. O'Leary."

I was returned with incredulous stares and open mouths.

Mrs. O'Leary obliviously looked at everyone, the grin still plastered on her face. She looked at them as if expecting them to come and scratch her behind her ears.

"She's a, uh… Hell Hound… from the Underworld, but she doesn't like it there… this is where she stays." I indicated the arena around us, then picked up a shield and threw it as far as I could. Mrs. O'Leary bounded after it. I saw her grasp it, then bring it to the side, lie down, and chew on it.

"Okay. She won't bother us. Now…"

The lesson went fairly well, for demigods who had never picked up a sword before. I had them practicing parrying and blocking. Thanks to ADHD, the demigod wiring for fighting, there were only minor injuries.

The lesson ended and it was time for lunch. I directed the demigods to the Dining Pavilion and wiped the sweat off of my brow.

I glanced at Mrs. O'Leary, happily chewing up the shield, puncture marks that looked like giant bullet holes graced it from her enormous teeth.

"I'll come back later on today to play, Mrs. O'Leary. Be a good girl."

Mrs. O'Leary looked up at me, sneezed, then went back to the shield. I took that as Hell Hound for, "Okay, Percy. See ya later."

I took off my breastplate and helmet and threw them to the side of the arena. Capping Riptide and putting it in my pocket, I made my way towards the Dining Pavilion. I had missed breakfast this morning, so I was starving. I could smell bacon for the BLT sandwiches and my stomach growled violently.

"Geez, Jackson. I almost mistook you for a monster."

A big girl with brown stringy hair came up next to me, taking off her helmet.

"Hey, Clarisse. Glad to be back?" we walked together to the Pavilion.

"Yeah. A bunch of newbies to pick on this year." She grinned.

"Tell me you're joking."

"And why would I joke about a matter like this? Can't wait for the first game of capture the flag…"

She had me there.

"Any new Ares kids?"

"Some older ones, there hasn't really been any young ones since Dad promised Aphrodite he wouldn't sire any more kids with mortals. We'll see how long _that_ promise lasts." She chuckled.

I smiled grimly. Ares wasn't exactly my favorite god.

"I won't even ask if there are any new Poseidon kids." She laughed.

"Yeah, well… we both know the answer to that one."

We reached the Dining Pavilion and went our separate ways, fist-pounding before leaving.

"You and me, Jackson. A nice one-on-one swordfight. Soon."

"Name the date, Clarisse. I'll be there."

It was all in good fun. Clarisse and I weren't enemies anymore. Just playful teasing mostly. I watched Clarisse wave to her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez. Instantly I thought of Annabeth and wondered if she was at Olympus yet.

Sitting down alone at the Poseidon table, and making my BLT and grabbing some potato chips, I couldn't help but wish my brother Tyson was here. He was down at Dad's forges again, building pieces to finish off Poseidon's palace.

I got up, went to the fire, and scraped part of my meal in, muttering "Poseidon" and praying that Annabeth would return safely. Even though Kronos was defeated, monsters were still in abundance.

Lunch went by quickly. Campers trotted off to their other lessons excitedly. I didn't have to teach another lesson until 2, but I returned to the arena to play with Mrs. O'Leary.

I threw the shield so many times I lost count, but my arm was pretty sore afterwards. Around 1:55 I put my armor back on and prepared for the next group of demigods. These campers were more advanced, so I employed Mrs. O'Leary to help me set up some dummies. Bad idea. Mrs. O'Leary ate about 10 of them.

At 2:00 I started to worry. No one had showed up. This was weird.

I looked at Mrs. O'Leary, and she looked back at me. Her face suggested she was thinking the same thing as me. Or she could have been asking me to bring cheeseburgers for her later on.

"That's it. Come here, Mrs. O'Leary. We need to get to the Hill and see what's going on."

Mrs. O'Leary trotted over to me and lowered herself so I could climb on. Uncapping Riptide, I urged Mrs. O'Leary forward. She bounded out of the arena and ran up the Hill.

I could see a large mass of campers gathered at the bottom of the Hill.

About 50 campers, led by Clarisse, were in armor and looking out over the landscape. I spotted Chiron by Thalia's tree, the Golden Fleece draped over a branch.

In no time I was right beside him. I got off Mrs. O'Leary. She sat.

"Percy, thank the gods. I was just about to send someone to retrieve you." Chiron told me, patting my shoulder.

"What's going on, Chiron?"

I looked out at where everyone else was looking and could see two figures running in the distance, followed by a few large shadowy masses.

"Mrs. O'Leary…" her ears perked up.

"Percy…"

"LET'S GO MRS. O'LEARY!" I jumped on her as she ran past, and we bounded down the hill.

The wind ripped through my hair and stung my face.

As we approached the two running figures, I realized a few things.

One: One of those figures was Grover.

Two: The large masses were Hell Hounds.

"PERRRRRRCY!" Grover yelled as he came within shouting distance.

"G-MAN! Hang in there! I'm coming! Go Mrs. O'Leary!"

She pounded forward. I leapt off when we neared Grover, and Mrs. O'Leary sped on to attack the Hell Hounds.

"GROVER! Are you okay?"

"Yeah… but… let's go!"

"You go, I'll hold the Hell Hounds off."

"But, Perc…"

"GO!"

Grover grabbed the hand of his companion and urged her forward. A head of shoulder length brown hair whipped past me, leaving behind it the smell of a flowery field. I watched them leave, and the girl looked behind her, right at me, with a scared expression.

I turned back around with Riptide and ran towards Mrs. O'Leary and the other Hell Hounds. She had already taken out 3 of the 5, so my work was easy. Dodging their pouncing, I rolled around them and slashed their hind legs. With two yelps of pain, they turned to dust.

"C'mon, Girl, let's head back up." I climbed on her back and we ran back up the hill.

We made it back to Chiron, who was shaking hands with Grover and introducing himself to the girl with brown hair.

"Chiron, this is Jolie Difficoltà."

The girl, Jolie, looked up at Chiron nervously. His eyes twinkled as he looked down at her.

"Hello, my dear. Welcome to Camp Half Blood. My name is Chiron. Are you… aware of who you are?"

"Grover was telling me a lot. I understand that one of my parents is a goddess… but…"

"You mean… she hasn't been claimed?" Chiron looked at Grover.

Grover glanced at me, then Chiron, then at Jolie.

"My dear…" Chiron continued, "Ms. Difficoltà, have you…experienced anything… received any indication of who your immortal parent might be?"

Jolie looked at me. Her eyes… they were two different colors. Her left eye was blue, and her right eye was brown. Her skin was an ivory tone. She was actually quite pretty.

She shook her head.

"Strange. Well, perhaps they've waited until you've been brought here. We shall see. For now, we will place you in the Hermes cabin. Travis! Connor!"

Two young men ran up to Chiron.

"This is Jolie Difficoltà. Her parentage is unknown, for now. Would you take her in?"

"Dude. It's been SO long since we've had to do this! Ever since Percy yelled at the gods, we've seen a lot of people go."

"Yeah, man. Most unprecedented, Percy." Connor nudged me and grinned, his elvish features glowing in the afternoon sun.

"Sure, we'll take her in! This way, m'lady…"

"Mr. Stoll."

"Yes?" Replied both Connor and Travis.

"Kindly return Mr. Underwood's reed pipes."

Grover snatched at himself, searching for his reed pipes.

Travis muttered, "Bogus!"

Connor took the reed pipes out of his pocket.

"Sorry, Goat Dude. We just can't help ourselves!"

Grover, annoyed, took back his pipes and wiped them on his shirt, which read, "PANic at the Disco: Satyr Fiesta 2010!" and had an outline of a satyr discoing John Travolta style under a disco ball.

Connor and Travis escorted Jolie down the hill. She looked back at me numerous times.

I stared, dumbfounded, after her until she was out of sight.

"Percy."

"Hmm?"

"Let's go, man."

"Right."

Grover and I made our way down to the cabins and into mine. Lessons had been cancelled for the rest of the day, due to the Hell Hounds and Jolie's arrival.

"Where did you find her, man?"

"Eh?" Grover looked at me. He had been eating one of my socks.

"Jolie."

"OH! Well, she was in Pennsylvania. Lived by the Hershey Factory. Strong chocolate smell. Hid her scent for the longest time, I bet. I found her living on the streets. Said her dad had kicked her out after some really bad luck he was having. He lost his job. He was a CEO, dude. Then he got in a car accident and had his car towed. But he had his checkbook stolen, so he couldn't pay for anything. He returned home with nothing and found that the house had burned partially to the ground. Jolie had been at a friend's house, so it wasn't her fault. When she got back, she found her dad throwing everything around, breaking stuff, cursing. When he saw her, he just got even angrier, grabbed her and said 'This is ALL your fault,' and threw her out with nothing. Sad stuff, huh? She's only 16."

"Yeah." I twirled Riptide in my hand, in pen form, of course.

Grover went back to gnawing on my sock.

I began to fiddle with my camp necklace. My fingers strayed on the first bead: the black bead with the green trident. My bead. I wondered if Jolie would ever get claimed. I remembered the feeling, I had endured it 5 years ago, when I was twelve. She probably felt lost, alone. I could relate. She needed a friend.

"Let's go visit her, Perce. She could probably use some friendly people about now."

"Uh… sure. I guess."

I looked at my bedside table. It had a framed picture of me and Annabeth in front of the Parthenon ruins. We had gone to Greece with her father and stepmom last year. Annabeth was holding up a peace sign, arm around my waist, and I had my arm about her shoulder. My heart throbbed.

"Okay. Let's go."

We left for the Hermes cabin.

**Hello!  
I am SO excited to be writing a Percy Jackson fic! I absolutely adored the books, and this idea was so sudden that I had to begin right away. R&R if you want to.**

**I'll update soon!**

**PS: my TeddyxVictoire fic is on hiatus, because I'm more excited about this one right now. **

**Love and stuff!**

**Lily**

_**Jolie**_ _**Difficoltà **_**and **_**Greg**_ **are my characters. All the rest belong to Rick Riordan and Ancient Greek storytellers.**


	3. Of New Acquaintances and Old Friends

Grover and I made our way over to the Hermes cabin.

He walked pretty confidently… probably because he had already been acquainted with Jolie.

I, on the other hand… was a tad bit nervous.

Why had she been looking at me constantly? Did I scare her? I suppose lunging up on a Hell Hound would scare anyone… but still.

We got to the door. It was open, as Hermes welcomed anyone. I knocked on the doorframe nonetheless.

"PERCY JACKSON!" yelled Connor.

"Man of the hour!" yelled Travis.

They were both seated at a table with Jolie in between them. We had apparently interrupted a conversation.

"Hey, guys." I greeted them.

While looking at them, out of the corner of my eye I could see Jolie's mesmerizing eyes on me. They looked interested… questioning…

Grover had gone over to sit by Jolie. I could hear them talking as Travis and Connor recalled my "most excellent escapade to defeat the Hell Hounds and save a fair maiden." I didn't really listen. I had experienced it firsthand.

"How are you, Jolie? Are you hurt? Hungry? Thirsty?" Grover asked quickly.

"I'm fine. You've done enough, Grover." She gave him a small smile and patted his hands which were flat on the table.

"Are you sure? If you need anything, just ask."

"Thanks, Grover. I will."

She barely looked at him. Only when she spoke to him.

The other times, she had been staring right at me.

"Do you need anything to help you relax? You know, I do play a nice relaxing Beethoven tune on my reed pipes. Let me just… just…" He patted his pockets.

Then he glared up at Connor and Travis who gave him a sly smile.

"YOU GUYS! GIVE THEM BACK!" Grover got up and threw himself at Connor and Travis.

They laughed and ran out of the cabin, Grover chasing after them.

This left Jolie at the table, and me still by the door.

Alone.

I looked after Grover, Connor and Travis, then towards Jolie.

I felt like I needed to impress her, so while I walked over to the table, I said something along the lines of "Is this seat taken?"

"Well… we're the only ones in here." Her eyes shot into mine. Their dissimilarity made me uneasy.

I looked around the cabin again.

Yep. The only ones. I could hear Grover shrieking in the distance.

I sat down and instantly felt awkward.

I had no idea what to say.

Talking to Annabeth was never this hard.

"Uh, well…l…"

"I didn't catch your name up on the hill." She said shyly.

"Oh! Uh, I'm Percy. Percy Jackson." I held out my hand for her to shake.

She took it, and said unnecessarily, "Jolie."

"I know."

"I know about you, too. Grover speaks very highly of you."

Her eyes scanned my face.

I blushed.

"Well, you know, G-Man is pretty cool himself. Did he tell you about his search for Pan? That's something. He totally found him, too, and it took forever for him to convince the other satyrs that Pan was gone… I was there. He's the bravest satyr I've ever met. He's my best friend."

I was babbling. Nervous habit.

Silence for awhile.

"Uh, are you sure you don't need anything? I mean, you were chased by Hell Hounds."

"I'm fine. Bad things seem to follow me. It's like I'm a magnet for trouble."

I didn't say anything. Jolie sighed and placed her head on the table, on top of her hands.

"Grover kinda filled me in."

"He did?"

I instantly felt defensive of Grover.

"Was that okay? I mean, he didn't mean any harm by it… it's just…"

"It's fine, Percy. I don't mind."

"Oh."

She looked at me again, really studying me. Her eyes traced down my face, down my neck and stopped at my necklace. She glanced at each bead that hung on the string.

"What are those for?"

"Oh, these? These are beads for each year a demigod, that's what we're called, spends at camp. Each bead has a depiction of a major event that occurred that summer. Like this one, it…"

I stopped. I didn't want to share anything about these beads with Jolie. It felt wrong. Like I was betraying the memories I had with my friends.

"Your first bead. It has a green fork on it."

"It's not a fork. It's a trident. You know, a weapon."

"Oh. I don't know much about this stuff. They offered a Greek mythology class at my high school. Never thought to take it. Didn't think I needed that information. I'm kind of regretting it right now."

"I know. It's hard to process at first… but… it gets better."

"Does it?"

I couldn't answer. I didn't know the answer myself.

Jolie spoke again.

"So… do _you_ know your immortal parent? Did they… reveal it to you?"

She looked at me hopefully.

There was no way out of this now.

I grasped the black bead with my fingers.

"This… this bead… the one with the green fork… the trident… I got this my first year here at camp, when I was twelve. I had no idea who I was. It was just me and my mom. But… I came to camp, and my godly parent, uh, claimed me. This trident represents that. It's the weapon of… of Poseidon. God of the Sea. He's my…my father."

Jolie looked at me incredulously.

"So… your parent claimed you."

"Yeah. That was supposed to change. After I… well, after a series of events, it was decreed that the gods had to start claiming their mortal children. It's a shock to Chiron that you weren't claimed, especially for how old you are."

"Did I… do you think my parent is… ashamed of me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No!" I said quickly. "Nothing like that… they uh… well, before the decree, a lot of times kids went without knowing they were demigods. The gods ignored them, didn't claim them as their own. And two years ago, I… well, they started claiming them."

"Do you think my parent will claim me?"

I thought for awhile. I remembered feeling like this.

"It's hard to say. But, I can relate. Trust me. I know how you feel. Just give it time. It'll be okay."

Jolie looked at me again.

"Thanks, Percy. You're a great… well, I hope we can be friends."

"Of course. I'd like that."

"Me too."

She smiled. The first genuine smile I had seen from her. She grasped my hand and squeezed it. She looked in my eyes, her eyes darting back and forth between mine. She moved closer.

I couldn't move. Was she going… did she want to… _me?_ Nuh-uh. Annabeth.

I got up from my chair quickly, startling her.

What do I tell her? What if I'm assuming? I don't want to embarrass her…

"I think I heard Grover… I'll go see if I can find him. Will you be okay here?"

Her face fell a bit, suddenly interested in the table in front of her. She nodded.

"I'll uh, see you later then."

"Yeah."

I turned out the door and strode to my cabin.

What in Hades had just happened? She had this weird hold on me. It was strange.

Instead of walking into my cabin, I went past it and found myself on the sands of the beach of the Long Island Sound.

Someone was waiting for me.

A head of fiery red hair blew with the sea breeze. She was wearing paint splattered overalls that covered a tie-dyed tank top. Her sunglasses were bright pink plastic frames, and she was barefoot.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

"Rachel…"

She turned around.

"Percy! I thought you'd come here eventually. I was just looking for seashells for my next big project."

"How've you been?"

"Oh, I've been just peachy. You know, happy that I never have to attend that all girl's school ever again… not that I make friends easily anyway… but it's hard to relate to people when you're the Oracle of Delphi, get my drift?"

I nodded but said "no."

"Wow, Percy. You haven't changed a bit. You're still a… what does Annabeth call you? A Trout Head or something?"

"Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah, that. You are definitely one if I've ever seen one."

"Thanks, Rach."

We stood just facing each other for a few minutes.

Rachel's smile grew. She came forward and hugged me.

I hugged back. I had missed her.

"It's good to see you again, Percy."

"You too, Rachel."

We spent the rest of the afternoon just chatting, and throwing rocks in the water while sitting on the sand. Anytime I found a particularly interesting seashell, I would show her and she would either take it, or tell me to throw it.

She asked me how things with Annabeth were, how my senior year of high school went, if I had run into any monsters. Set anything or any_one_ on fire.

I asked her about school, how she was coping with being the Oracle, if things had improved with her parents at all.

The sun was a deep orange, and low by the water.

I got up and brushed sand off my shorts.

"We should get to the Pavilion. Dinner will be served soon."

"Great. I'm starving."

I held my hand down to her, and she grabbed it. We began walking to the Pavilion.

Dinner passed quickly. I could feel Jolie's eyes on me the entire time. I didn't even have to look… there was a tingling sensation on my neck.

Rachel sat with me. Being the Oracle of Delphi… she didn't have a table, and could essentially choose where she wanted to sit. She informed me of the staring contest Jolie was having with the back of my neck.

"It's kind of creepy, actually. She looks at you like she owns you."

"Don't say stuff like that. It's scary."

"You, Percy Jackson, who has faced hundreds of monsters and the Titan Lord himself, are scared that a girl is looking at you?"

"It's unnerving."

"You need to get out more. You're an attractive guy, Percy."

"Uh… thanks?"

"Really. I'm not joking. Girls love tanned, thinly muscular physique… dark, messy black hair with dreamy green eyes…"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Also, that we aren't having this conversation. I'll pretend that, too."

"Believe what you want, Perseus Jackson, but heed my words. Girls notice you."

"I only care for one, though."

"Good for you. But that won't stop other girlies from being on the prowl. Ready to POUNCE!" she slammed the table with her fist, making me jump.

"Rachel! Cut it out."

She gave me a knowing look as she slurped up some spaghetti.

I hoped to the gods she was making this up.

Back in my cabin, by myself, I decided I'd try to Iris message Annabeth.

Leaning over my fountain, I plucked a gold drachma from the clear water and threw it into the slight mist created by the small waterfall.

"Iris, please accept my offering."

The drachma disappeared.

"Annabeth Chase, Mount Olympus, er, Manhattan."

The image came into focus. Annabeth was combing her wet hair. She must've just cleaned up after a long day.

"Annabeth."

She jumped and looked from the mirror. Her eyes widened and a huge grin formed on her face.

"Seaweed Brain!"

"Hey, Wise Girl."

"Missed me already, huh?"

"Well I… yeah."

"It's only been a day, Percy."

"A lot happened today."

That sparked her interest.

"Here, too."

"You go first. Tell me what you've been up to."

"It's great Percy! Things are coming into place…"

I listened intently. I didn't understand parts of it, but that was just architect talk. She described everything in perfect detail, I could actually _see_ Olympus from what she was saying.

"…and the statues of the twelve Olympian gods are in the garden, in the same spots as they are in the throne room and cabins."

"Wow, Annabeth. That's just… you're amazing, you know that?"

She blushed.

"Okay. Your turn."

I told her everything. Including my awkward encounter with Jolie. She didn't seem happy about that.

"...Yeah. It freaked me out, Annabeth. I just… it's weird."

"Huh. That's really strange, Percy. And she hasn't been claimed? That's even more weird. I'll do some research. I'll see what I can find."

"On what, Annabeth?" Typical Annabeth. Finding things to research with limited information.

"Well, her background story is… it's a lot. There has to be something in there that we can work off of."

"Well, just don't overdo it. You know how you can get."

"And how's that, Seaweed Brain?" she raised an eyebrow, daring me to tell her.

"Oh, you know, sweet, sexy… "

"You're such a Seaweed Brain."

"But you love me for it."

"You better believe it."

Annabeth yawned.

"It's been a long day, Percy. I'm tired. I need to sleep."

"Me too. Long here, too."

"Sounds like it. Well, I'll… talk to you later. I'll definitely see you in two days, though."

"Yeah. See you then. I love you, Wise Girl."

"I love you, too, Seaweed Brain." She blew a kiss and waved her hand over the image.

I watched as she faded away.

I felt a lot better, now that I had been able to talk to someone. Especially Annabeth. She always knew what to say. There were just some things you couldn't talk about with other people. I could tell Annabeth anything.

I looked at my clock radio. 11:45. Gods I was tired.

I crawled into my bed and snuggled below the covers. The trickling of the fountain helped lull me. The bugs chirping outside… the out-of-tune strums of an electric guitar…

Wait.

Electric guitar?

I sat up.

It sounded a ways off, but it was definitely an electric guitar.

I got up cautiously, stuffing Riptide into my pajama pants, and throwing my shirt on.

I made my way out of my cabin and followed the sound of the guitar.

I entered the woods and came to a small grove lit by the moon.

I saw a dark figure sitting on a log with a black guitar adorned with skull stickers.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flickering image of an African American man with crazy hair, a mustache, and bellbottoms. He also held a guitar, and was speaking with the other figure.

I crept closer.

"You see, man, ya gotta be like 'whoa' and like 'far out' with these chords, man! Like this, man, watch."

He strummed his flickering guitar and a ghostly chord played.

"You mean, like this?"

The other strummed.

"Psychedelic, man! And _that _is the first chord in "Purple Haze" man. Yeah."

The figure wore black, and a silver skull ring decorated his finger.

"Nico?"

Both figures looked up.

"Percy! What's up, man?"

"Nico. What in Had- what are you doing here?"

"Oh. This. Well, I'm at my guitar lesson."

"I noticed."

"Yeah. How do I sound, Perce? " He strummed some unforgivable sounds. I wanted to hold my ears.

"Like a real musician, man."

"You gonna introduce me, dude?"

The ghost spoke.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Percy, this is Jimi. Jimi, Percy Jackson."

"Dude. Nice to know you, man. Awesome."

"Jimi, Nico? As in… _Jimi Hendrix?"_

"Yeah, man! That was _totally_ my name. Dude. Where am I?"

Nico looked at Jimi glumly.

"Jimi, you're giving me a guitar lesson. You've been dead since 1970."

"Sweet, man. I'm dead? Awesome."

Wow. Jimi Hendrix was in the woods giving Nico Di Angelo a guitar lesson. Check that one off strange sightings Bingo.

"Still doesn't answer my question, though, Nico. What exactly are you doing here? At this hour?"

Nico stood up and leaned his guitar on the tree trunk. There was some lame protesting from Jimi about the mistreatment of guitars, and how they needed to be loved too. Woodstock, man. Woodstock.

"Okay, well… you see Percy, my dad… he's been acting strange lately. He's nervous about something. And if Hades is nervous, then, what I've learned is… we all have something to be nervous about."

Could this have anything to do with my dream? Could Hades sense Kronos stirring again in Tartarus?

I told Nico about my dream. He just shook his head sadly.

"I dunno, man. I'll keep you posted. If anything changes, or happens, you'll be the first to know."

"Thanks, Nico. Uh… I need to get back to bed before I'm eaten… could you… could you take this, uh, 'guitar lesson' somewhere else?"

"Oh, I was finished anyway."

He looked over at Jimi Hendrix who was playing his rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" to a chipmunk and swaying back and forth on the log. Nico waved his hand, and Jimi Hendrix disappeared with a "_Not _cool, man. _Not_ cool."

Nico just chuckled.

"Have you ever considered that you are, uh, abusing your powers?"

Nico laughed.

"Yeah, right. C'mon, Percy. Don't tell me you don't enjoy the luxuries of breathing underwater... or, uh… _kissing._"

He got me.

"Touche, Nico. Well played."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I gotta get going."

"You could stay here, you know. There is a cabin for Hades."

Nico looked unsure.

"There's a place for you, Nico. Take advantage of it."

"Another time, Percy. I'll see you around."

And with that he blended into the shadows.

And I went back to bed.


	4. Of Diet Coke and Disappearances

For once I didn't have any nightmares.

In fact… I had no dreams at all.

But everything from the previous day came back to me within a span of about 3 seconds.

It was a bit overwhelming.

So overwhelming, that I actually fell out of bed.

"Ow."

I sat up, rubbing my shoulder where it had hit the floor when I landed. Looking up at the digital clock on my nightstand, I was informed that it was 8:03 AM.

Groaning with the effort, I pushed myself up into a standing position and commenced getting ready for the day. Who knows what would happen.

After breakfast, I made my way to the arena where I would train the demigods again.

"WOOF."

"Hey, Mrs. O'Leary."

I walked over to her and she lay down, letting me scratch her behind her ears.

"Thanks for yesterday, Mrs. O'Leary. You were great. I didn't get a chance to tell you. A lot happened, you know?"

"Aroof."

I grinned at her. Her eyes were rolling to the back of her head. I gave her one final pat on the head and then turned around to greet the demigods.

But there was only one person standing at the entrance.

Her brown hair was upset by the slight breeze. She was dressed in armor, and had a small celestial bronze sword. She warily made her way over to me.

I didn't… I couldn't move. My mouth was ajar.

Where was everyone else?

"Um, hi, Percy. Did you, uh, sleep well?"

I answered the question in the simplest way I could.

"Err…"

"This must be kinda weird, huh? I mean, Chiron said you usually train a bunch of younger demigods in the mornings…"

"Uh, yeah. Where, uh, are they?"

"Well, Chiron said that you could, um, give me a private lesson due to my, um, inabilities. He said that you were the best, and because I couldn't defend myself yesterday, that uh, we should begin right away this morning."

"Um, okay…"

"Is that okay with you?"

I looked at her incredulously.

"What? Yeah! It's fine! Really!" I shook myself. I was being really rude.

Seriously. This girl had some strange hold on me. I didn't get it.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Let's get started."

I gave her a small smile, trying to convince her… and myself, that it was okay. It must've worked for her, because she gave me a small smile back, her dissimilar eyes brightening noticeably.

"Alright. So, first, you have to choose a weapon."

She raised her sword a bit, pathetically.

"Is that the weapon you choose?"

"There's more than once choice?"

"Well, beginners start out with swords, but as you get more skilled, some move on to different weapons, like my…" I was about to say _Like my girlfriend, Annabeth, she fights with a dagger._ But I didn't finish.

"Anyway, so yeah."

"What do you fight with, Percy?"

I drew Riptide from my pocket..

Jolie smiled a bit.

"You are so confident in your abilities that you fight with a pen?"

"What? No! Not at all! This is… this is Riptide. My sword."

She chuckled, glancing at the pen, then back at my face as if I was crazy.

"Let me show you…" and I uncapped it.

All three feet of Riptide's celestial bronze glory stormed out from where I held it.

Jolie's eyes widened.

I slashed Riptide in the air a few times, then raised my eyebrows at her.

"You see?"

"Oh, yes. I'm pretty sure."

She once again glanced down at her weapon and grimaced.

"Oh! Don't worry… I'll take it easy on you, I promise. You're just starting."

"Thanks, Percy."

"Alright. Assume the stance."

I bent my knees and spread my feet shoulder width apart. I raised my sword slightly and beckoned Jolie to do the same. She almost had it.

"Bring your feet a little further apart. When they are shoulder width apart, you have better balance and can assume different stances and moves quicker."

"Okay."

"Now lift your sword slightly. Yeah, like that, and bring your hand up like you're getting ready to defend yourself. That's right. Great! You're a fast learner."

Jolie blushed slightly.

"Okay. I'm going to teach you how to defend. When I swing at you, and I'm going to cut downwards, I want you to raise your sword horizontally, and just press your fingers to the flat part of the blade on the tip so you get more leverage and can withstand the blow better. Like this. You see how I have my other hand help out like that?"

"Yeah."

"You think you can do it? I'll be slow and soft, so take your time."

"I… I think I'm ready, Percy."

"Alright, here I go."

I swung Riptide upward and prepared to bring it down. I watched as Jolie's eyes narrowed and she brought her sword up to get ready to block. I came down and she successfully blocked the blow. A sharp CLANG resounded about the stadium. Mrs. O'Leary glanced up from her nap, annoyed at being disturbed.

We kept our swords like that for a few seconds. She stared directly into my eyes with a fierce gaze. I didn't look away.

She lowered her sword and I mine.

I cleared my throat.

"Um, that was good. That was really good for your first time. We're going to do it again, but this time, quicker."

"Quicker?" She seemed a bit uneasy.

"Jolie, one of the benefits of being a demigod is that you're wired for this kind of stuff already."

"What do you mean?"

"Have you been, uh, diagnosed with ADHD ever?"

"Yeah. When I was 4."

"There you have it. The ADHD is actually your mind being prepared and alert for anything. How about dyslexia?"

"In second grade."

"That's because your brain finds it natural to read Ancient Greek."

"Really? Wow. And I thought I just had the worst luck ever."

"So did I. I thought I had it bad, but let me tell you, those two diagnoses have saved my life numerous times." I smiled at her.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. But now's not the time to talk about that. We uh, have to keep practicing. Just don't worry about things speeding up. Your mind and body are ready. Trust me."

To prove my point, I swung at her horizontally as if to cut her in half. She brought her sword to the side, vertically to block, the handle by her head, the blade pointing down. She looked dumbfounded. She looked at her sword, amazed, then looked back at me with wide eyes.

"You see?" I chuckled at her.

A grin began to form on her mouth and she gave me a 1000 watt smile, then, dropping her sword, threw her arms around my neck. I stumbled backward, unprepared for the addition of weight, and fell on my butt, Jolie coming down with me, ending up straddling my lap.

I was only too aware of our position. I looked up at her nervously.

She was looking right back, glancing to both my eyes, one at a time. She licked her lips.

I gulped. Loudly.

"Um, sorry about that. I was, uh, unprepared for that."

"After all you just told me about the ADHD?" I thought I saw her eyes flash gold. Must've been the sun or something.

"Well, not that, but, you, uh… sort of pushed me over. I wasn't ready for a body to fly at me like that…"

"Oh. I see."

She glanced down at my mouth, then back at my eyes.

My palms were pressing against the ground so hard I could feel pebbles lodging themselves in my hands. I began to crawl backwards, to get out from under her.

Her hands only slid down my neck onto my shoulders.

My heartbeat was racing. I didn't want to be here. I was desperate to escape. My mind flooded itself with images of Annabeth.

She leaned in, ever so slightly.

"Jolie! I… I…" My mind fumbled for something to say.

"You what, Percy?"

"I need to go. Now."

And with that, I pushed her off, got up quickly, and walked out of the arena at a very brisk pace.

I didn't stop that pace until I got back to my cabin.

I looked in the mirror, and saw that my cheeks were pink, and beads of sweat had formed on my forehead.

_What in Hades had just happened?_

I flopped onto my bed, still clad in my armor. Riptide clanged to the floor.

I breathed in and out slowly to calm myself.

Who did she think she was, moving in like that? I belonged to _Annabeth._

I could have sworn her eyes had turned gold for just the briefest of seconds… but it had to have been a trick of the light. No one's eyes just flickered gold. They were either gold, or they weren't. Simple as that.

"Percy?"

"GAH!"

I sat up quickly looking at my now open door.

"G-man! Don't… don't do that. Knock. Warn someone. Use a blowhorn, or… or something."

"Are you okay, Perc? You look really flustered."

"I'm fine. What's up, man?"

"Uh, Mr. D sent me to get you. He wants to talk to you about something."

"Talk to me? About what?"

"Beats me. But, we gotta go, like, now. You know how patient he is."

Did I ever.

"Alright. Let me get out of this armor. Hang on a sec."

"No problem, man."

After I got my armor off, Grover and I headed out toward the Big House.

Mr. D was sitting on the porch drinking a Diet Coke. We approached him.

"Kept me waiting long enough, Pablo Jacobson."

"Sorry, sir. I had to get out of my armor."

"Whatever." Mr. D waved his hand, dismissing my excuse.

He drank deeply from the Diet Coke can, and then dumped it upside down a few times to see if any was left. A few measly drops plunked to the ground. Then Mr. D crushed the can in his fist. Grover flinched slightly.

I waited for him to address me.

"I suppose you're wondering why I needed to talk to you, Patrick Jason."

"Percy Jackson, sir."

"Whatever. Anyway, Pablo, I have received a call from the Council of Elders. Apparently there's been some big whoopdeedoo finding I'm needed to observe and ratify as a "major finding.""

"Why are you telling me this, sir?"

"What? I thought you'd be interested or something."

"Actually, Percy, Dionysus is telling you this, because, at your stature with the gods and experience in this camp, you'd replace him for the time being."

Chiron had come up behind Grover and me on the stairs of the porch.

Mr. D rolled his eyes.

"I'd… what?"

"You'd just be the person to go to if anything is needed in Mr. D's department during his absence. You will still carry on with your regular duties. Is this alright with you, Percy?"

I looked up at Chiron.

"Uh, sure. I guess… I mean… Yeah. It's fine."

"There's something else, Percy."

"What's that, G-man?"

"Uh, Mr. D has _kindly _asked me to accompany him, as I also have stature amongst the satyrs… you know."

Grover was leaving too, then?

"That's great, G-man!"

"Um, yes."

"Alright, enough of the love-fest." Mr. D blurted. "I may have thrown up in my mouth a bit."

Chiron just looked at Mr. D with a grimace. I ignored him, as I tend to do when he makes those kind of comments.

"Well, then, without further ado, I guess we'll be off. Come, Grover."

"But, sir, I need to pack…"

With a snap of his fingers and a distant smell of ripe grapes, a duffle bag appeared in front of Grover.

"Oh. Uh, thank you, sir."

"Whatever. We're off. Don't screw things up, Peyton."

"Percy."

"Sure." and he snapped his fingers again, and a puff of smoke along with more grape scent, both Mr. D and Grover were gone.

"Well, Percy, I guess we're done here for now."

"Yeah."

"You may return to whatever you were doing."

"Thank you, sir."

I trudged back to my cabin, already feeling empty without Grover here. Who else could I talk to? I mean, Annabeth was gone, and now Grover.

I went back into my cabin and flopped on my bed once more.

Only I wasn't alone.

"GODS, Nico! What the…?"

"Sorry, Percy."

"Geez. People. I tell ya. So what's up now?"

"Percy, Hades is gone."

"Wait, what?"

"He's gone. I have no idea where he is."

"Are you sure? I mean… he doesn't just… leave the Underworld, does he?"

"Not usually. Even Persephone doesn't know. Like she cares, but still."

"This is not normal."

"You're telling me."

"Are… are people looking for him?"

"Not likely. No one is genuinely upset if the god of the dead can't be found, you know?"

I supposed.

"Not even Zeus, or… or my dad?"

"Haven't asked."

"Um, well… I don't know what to say, Nico… we should probably tell Chiron… don't you think?"

"I was hoping you would do that for me, Percy."

"Huh? Why can't you? What's wrong with Chiron?"

"Nothing, it's just that… whenever I… he just looks at me funny. And like he hopes I'll stay or something. It's unsettling. Just, tell Chiron, alright?"

"Fine."

"Thanks, Percy."

"Are you out to search?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if you need anything, you know where I am."

"Yeah. Thanks, man."

"Sure. Good luck."

"You too, man."

And he melted into shadow.

Hades had disappeared.

This was not good news.

Not good at all.

Nico had told me that Hades had been uneasy… was it about this?

Did… did Kronos have anything to do with this?

My dream and everything Nico had told me last night and today filled my head.

Hades uneasy, golden eyes in my dream… everything pointed to Kronos… but he was… disabled for the time being. I mean, it had barely been two years!

I lay down on my bed and fell into an uneasy sleep.

I woke up around dinner time to a pounding on my door.

"Percy! Are you in there? Where have you been?"

Rachel.

"I'm in here, Rachel. Stop pounding. You're hurting my head."

Rachel opened the door and strode in.

"What have you been doing, Percy Jackson? You missed lunch, and afternoon activities."

"I've been in here, Rachel. I was thinking, and I guess I fell asleep."

"You guess?" Her red hair burned like fire. She was angry.

"Are you okay, Rachel?"

"I'm fine! Just, what's with you?"

"Nothing! Everything's fine."

"Percy, I'm the Oracle. I can tell something is wrong. There's an aura of uneasiness about you that is about as obvious as a 20 foot tall safety cone in the middle of the road. Now spill."

She was good. But I didn't want to worry her.

"I just miss Annabeth, that's all."

She looked me up and down skeptically.

"Fine. Well, let's get dinner. I'm starving, and I heard it was steak. So we need to hustle."

I got up, stretched, and followed her to the Pavilion.

As Rachel and I entered the Pavilion, I found Jolie at the Hermes table almost instantly. Her eyes followed me as I went to sit at the Poseidon table, and then they flickered to Rachel as she sat down across from me.

"You're not okay, Percy."

Great observation. Well done Rachel. Have a cookie?

"I'm fine, Rachel. Seriously."

"Jolie is staring at you again."

"Is she? Good for her."

"Did… did something happen with her today, Percy?"

"No, what? No! Nothing happened!"

"It did Percy. I'm not stupid. I see how she's looking at you, and your uneasiness and unwillingness to look back or talk about her. What did she do? Or, what did _you_ do?"

"How could you even say that, Rachel?"

"I have to ask."

"_I _didn't do anything. _She _tried to kiss me."

"She did _what?_ Oh my gods, Percy!"

"You see why I want to keep this on the down low?"

"I'm sorry, Percy. What exactly… led to this?"

I told her about this morning.

"She has like, multiple personality disorder or something. At first, she's shy, but then… she just loses all her inhibitions in the span of second."

Rachel just nodded, looking at me seriously.

"I suggest you stay away from her, Percy."

"No way, Rachel! Why didn't _I _think of that? OF COURSE I'M STAYING AWAY!"

"No need to be a jerk, Percy. I'm just trying to help."

I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Rachel. This whole things is just freaking me out."

"I understand that Percy. But you can't push away the people you trust."

She had a point.

"You're right. Can I make it up to you?"

Rachel smiled.

"You can come sit with me on the beach again. Let's make a sandcastle!"

I couldn't _not _say yes to that. Sandcastles? Hades yes.


	5. Of Hints and Havoc

"Can you will more water to come and make this sand a little more wet? It'll stick better."

I concentrated, and felt the ticklish pull in my gut. A small stream of water meandered its way up to the sand Rachel was using to build her castle. I sat in the sand a few feet away, burying and resurfacing my feet.

Rachel and I hadn't said much since we started building… well, I attempted. She fired me right away. Rachel's the artistic one. So, we hadn't said much since I started watching her build a sandcastle.

The sunset exploded pinks and purples across the water and throughout the sky. I looked up, watching wisps of clouds droll by lazily. The sounds of the waves always calmed me down, and the smell of the beach, a sweet scent, filled my nostrils.

It reminded me of a time I sat here with Annabeth.

We had just finished a day of swimming and picnicking. I was in my swim trunks and Annabeth in her bikini. I was sitting and leaning back on my hands, my legs crossed, and Annabeth sat in my lap with her head on my shoulder. It was so relaxing. She watched as I made the waves make beautiful water shows and patterns. Sometimes I even asked marine creatures to put on a performance. Let me tell you, fish, eels, and shrimp _love_ performing. They're actually very acrobatic.

"That's amazing, Percy. It's so beautiful."

"Yeah, it is." I was looking down at Annabeth.

She tilted her chin up and turned her head so she could see me.

"I was talking about the water, Seaweed Brain."

"Yeah… er, so was I. Obviously." I could feel myself blushing.

"You're way too transparent to cover up _that _one, Seaweed Brain."

"Cover what up?"

Annabeth blushed.

"Cover up the fact that I was talking about you when I agreed about the beauty?"

Annabeth looked down and blushed a little more, nodding only just perceivably.

I took my hand and coaxed her chin back up.

"I meant it, Wise Girl."

She leaned in and kissed me, placing her hand on my cheek. My arms tightened around her. Her lips were so soft and warm, I could sit like that forever.

"Earth to Percy!"

I jumped out of my revelry.

"Huh?"

"I asked you what you thought of the finished product."

I looked at the intricately detailed, 5 tower sandcastle before me.

I was really impressed, actually.

"Wow. Wow, Rachel. That's just… wow."

Rachel smiled knowingly.

"Wanna destroy it together?"

"What? No! It's far too awesome."

"Ah well. You're missing out!" She stood up and prepared to jump on the castle.

"Now wait here, a minute. Wait for me." I stood up as well.

Rachel took my hand and we counted to three and jumped onto her castle, feet crushing through the towers and crumbling them back into individual sand grains. We continued jumping up and down on the castle until it was just a worn spot of sand with various sized divots and footprints in it.

Rachel and I were laughing so hard, we both fell back down.

Rachel wiped a tear from her eye.

"It feels good to relive childhood. Everyone should do that more often."

"Yeah. Especially here. We're training all the time. We should really just find some time to play sometimes."

"Well, Mr. J, why don't you mention that to Chiron?"

"I'll think about it, Miss D."

We smiled at each other.

And then heard the screaming.

Both Rachel and I looked toward where we thought the screaming was coming from.

I jumped up, digging Riptide out of my pocket and uncapping it.

"Rachel, go back to the Big House."

"Percy, after all these years, you still haven't figured out that I'm just going to follow you?"

"I… come on."

We both ran back to the camp's main area.

The bonfire that the Apollo kids had made was raging out of control. Demigods were running around getting buckets of water, trying to put out the fire before it reached the cabins.

"Rachel…"

But Rachel was gone. I saw a flash of red hair follow some other kids to get buckets.

The fire was too big.

I watched in horror as the flames caught the newly built Hades cabin.

There was no way that the cabin could burn. It was made of stone…

But sure enough, the cabin was burning. The whole thing was engulfed in orange flames.

The rock began to crumble, and flaming stones began falling to the ground, rolling towards campers. Demigods ran every which way to avoid the fiery cannon balls.

A girl with brown hair and mismatched eyes just stood, staring at the fire in fear. The flames reflecting off her pupils, making it look the fire was within her, making her eyes gold.

It was only a matter of seconds before the flames caught the other cabins as well.

I had to do something. Now.

I closed my eyes and thought of the waves crashing, the smell of the sea, the blue green of the water.

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

I wasn't the only one who could hear the distant rumbling, like aquatic thunder coming through the trees.

I raised my hands and threw my arms toward the fires. Water blasted past me and attacked the fire, sloshing and searching out every last lick of flame. Some kids screamed at the intensity of it.

I opened my eyes, and saw that no more fire was to be seen. I lifted my hands once again, and the water spiraled upwards like a water tornado and began to swirl in a spiral above my head. When I lowered my arms, the water evaporated instantly.

I fell to my knees in exhaustion.

"Percy!"

Rachel fell to her knees next to me and put her arm around my shoulders helping me up.

"Who saw what happened?" I shouted to the onlookers. "How did that fire get out of control? That has _never_ happened before."

I looked towards the Apollo cabin, who all raised their arms in a "not me" gesture.

"Percy, it wasn't the Apollo cabin's fault."

Clarisse approached me.

"I saw what happened. It was insane. One minute, we were all singing around the campfire, and the next, these blasts of fire shot out of the fire in every which way. It was unbelievable. It wasn't an accident. That couldn't have happened on its own. It was too supernatural. Even for demigods."

Clarisse had a nervous gleam in her eyes. I knew she wouldn't lie about something like that.

The Hades cabin smoldered, looking like a lava pit that had just finished erupting.

Random flames jumped up every once in a while. The area was still really hot.

I made my way over to the wreckage.

Hades disappeared, and then the flames claimed his cabin.

I couldn't help but feel this was _not_ a random occurrence.

I looked through the crowd that had gathered in front of me, Clarisse and Rachel, her arms still around my shoulders. A mixture of fear, from the fire, awe, from what I did, and uncertainty, about this event, plagued the faces of the campers.

"Where's Chiron?"

"Right behind you, Percy."

I turned around and looked up into Chiron's face.

"My dear campers. I commend you for staying brave and calm in a time of fear and absolute chaos. Was anyone hurt? Please make yourself known."

No one said a thing.

Good. No one was hurt. Thank the gods.

"Very good. If that changes, don't hesitate to come and get aid. We have plenty of nectar and ambrosia. Now, I would ask that all campers stay away from the wreckage. Can I get some harpies to rope off that area?" Chiron yelled the last sentence. I heard some screeches in the woods and rustles.

"Good, good. Now, Clarisse, Percy and Rachel, if I could see all of you at the Big House in about 10 minutes?"

"Absolutely, Chiron."

"Alright. I suggest all campers return to their respectable cabins and turn in for the night."

There were no complaints. Everyone went off in their own directions, and doors could be heard opening and closing.

"You three go clean yourselves up a little. I'll see you in 10 minutes."

Chiron galloped off, leaving me, Clarisse and Rachel alone.

Clarisse wiped her forehead, and stared at her now black fingers.

"Is my face covered in ash?"

"Yes."

"Great."

I patted Clarisse's shoulder.

"See you guys in 10."

Rachel and Clarisse went their separate ways. I trudged to my cabin slowly. I was still a little weak from my firefighting.

Ten minutes later found all three of us and Chiron sitting at the ping pong table. Clarisse had just finished describing every detail of what she had witnessed. Chiron listened intently. I was slurping up some nectar to get a little bit of strength back. So much for my dip in the Styx. Don't think using my gods-given powers _didn't_ still exhaust me.

"…and then Percy and Rachel ran in and Percy did some bad-ass water works and the fire went out."

"This is quite the predicament. And the Hades cabin is completely destroyed."

"Sir?" I spoke up hesitantly.

"Percy?"

"Um, Nico visited today. He uh, told me that Hades has disappeared. No one knows where he is. I think, well, I can't be sure, but I get the feeling that his disappearance and the destruction of his cabin aren't a random coincidence. I think there's a tie. Like a warning, or something."

Chiron thought for a moment.

"That's an interesting theory, Percy. Until we get more information, though, I'm afraid we can't pursue a course of action."

"I understand, sir." I would just wait until I could talk about this with Annabeth.

"One more thing, Chiron."

"Clarisse?"

"Um, none of this happened until… well, we couldn't _help_ but notice, but the flames occurred just a few minutes after that new girl showed up. I'm not saying she did it, but just relaying another minor detail."

"I'll keep that in mind, Clarisse, though I don't think Miss Difficolta has any responsibility in this."

My stomach flipped at the mention of Jolie. Mind you, it wasn't a _good _flip, like the sensation you get going down a huge rollercoaster hill. More like the "Damn. I'm giving a speech in front of everyone and didn't prepare at all" kind of flip.

"Well, let us all retire. We will discuss this further if any new evidence shows up. Good night."

We all mumbled "good night" to Chiron and left the Big House.

Clarisse left Rachel and me as we passed the Ares cabin. She gave sort of a fling-armed wave while she was facing the other way.

Rachel and I stopped at my cabin.

"Well. That was a complete twist of events, wouldn't you say?" Rachel piped.

"More than I wanted to happen tonight, that's for sure."

"You really think that Hades' disappearance and his cabin burning to the ground are linked somehow?"

"I have this feeling, Rachel. I can't explain it."

"Trust your gut, Percy. I won't lecture you differently."

"That's a relief. I can't stand lectures."

"Shut up and go to bed, Percy."

I raised my hands in surrender.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good night, Percy."

" 'Night, Rachel."

I watched her leave until I couldn't see her anymore and entered my cabin.

_We heard the screaming._

_I grabbed Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it, running to where I heard the screaming._

_Columns of fire tornados circled a figure with their arms raised, as if controlling the fire. Campers lay on the ground around the area. I didn't know if they were dead.I willed the water to come to me and it began to circle me in water tornados mimicking the ones of the opposite element. _

_The two elements clashed with a loud hissing and clouds and clouds of steam billowing around us._

_I squinted through the mists to see the silhouette of the figure._

_It was female._

_Two golden eyes glowed through the steam out of the darkened face._

_I raised Riptide._

"_I told you I was coming, Perseus."_

_That voice sounded too familiar._

_The steam thinned, and a brown haired teenager emerged from the clouds._

_Her eyes were shining metallically._

"_Jolie?"_

_Jolie just smiled at me._

_She began to walk towards me, gold eyes flaming maliciously._

_I pointed Riptide at her._

"_Don't come any closer!"_

_I stared into her eyes. They dimmed, returning to the mismatched colors that they were._

_She stopped advancing._

"_Percy?"_

I woke up, shooting into a sitting position.

If there was one thing my dream had just told me, it was that Jolie had caused the fire.

The morning and afternoon dragged on. Campers were still shaken up by last night's fire. Campers that walked past the charred remains of the Hades cabin stood just outside the ropes and whispered quietly to each other.

I got a few pats on the back.

Others just pointed at me and talked amongst themselves.

I felt like a spectacle.

I knew that people were talking about my "amazing skill" and "heroic deed" as I had been told, but I wanted to move on. I did what was necessary. That's it.

After the afternoon sword training, I hefted my armor off. It had been a really hot day, and I was sweating.

Many demigods had retreated to the shade, the water, or inside where it was a bit cooler. I couldn't wait to get into my cabin. The stone kept in cool air, and it was a bit darker in the cabin for lack of a lot of windows.

I got to my door, opened it, and instantly felt a lot cooler.

I peeled off my camp shirt and tossed it to the floor. I ran my hands through my hair, pulling it back off of my forehead. That helped cool me off, too.

"You should do this for me a lot more often, Seaweed Brain. I loved the strip tease and the stretch of your abs and pecs."

Oh my gods.

Annabeth.

She was back.

I whirled around, and sure enough, sitting on my bed was my girlfriend. She must've been wearing her hat as I came in, then taken it off when I wasn't looking.

"Wise Girl!" I breathed.

She got up and we walked to each other, embracing in a tight hug. I buried my face into her neck, inhaling her scent. I placed a few kisses on her shoulder and a ways up her neck.

"I missed you, Annabeth." I mumbled into her skin.

Annabeth's hands were in my hair.

"I missed you too, Seaweed Brain."

I lifted my head and instantly pressed my mouth to hers.

Her arms wound around my neck as I hugged her around her waist.

We made out for… oh I don't know how long it was. Not long enough, in my opinion.

We were laying on my bed side-by-side a while after.

I was on my back, and Annabeth was on her side curled up to me. Her arm draped across my torso. My arm was behind her head, supporting her neck.

"I have so much to tell you, Wise Girl."

"I have a lot to tell you, too, Seaweed Brain. Olympus is finished! Completely!"

"Is it really? Oh my gods, Annabeth! I can't wait to see it. When can we go up to check out your handiwork?" I kissed her head.

"Sometime real soon. You'll love it, Percy. I um… there's sort of a surprise. I'm not telling you anything about it though."

"Annabeth… you can't keep secrets from me!"

"This one I can."

"Wanna bet? Tell me. Please?" I gave her the begging face that she always gives in to.

She kissed my nose.

"Not going to work this time, Seaweed Brain. Nice try." She smirked.

I stepped it up a notch.

I rolled on top of her, straddling her hips.

"Please?" I used a high pitched voice.

Annabeth giggled.

"Nope."

"Pretty please with a Percy on top?"

"You are on top, Percy. And no."

I gave her a sad face. My lips turned down and I tilted my head a bit to the side.

"Still not working Percy…" Annabeth dragged out in a sing-song voice.

"You leave me no choice, then." I sat up and got off her and crawled to her side.

"What are you going to do?"

"…"

"Percy…?"

I tickled her.

"PERCY! STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IT TICKLES SO MUCH IT HURTS! MY TUMMY! MY TUMMY! HAHAHA! PERCY! I MEAN IT! I'LL KILL YOU! STOP! AHAHAHAHAHAHA…!"

I tickled her belly and her sides. Annabeth was kicking like a maniac, tears streamed down her face. Her eyes were clenched shut and she was trying to push me away.

But I was stronger.

"PERCY! I'M GOING TO DIE! I MIGHT DIE! PERCY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

I stopped tickling her abruptly.

Annabeth continued laughing while trying desperately to breathe in as much oxygen as she could laughter died down, with just a few chuckles here and there.

Her chest rose and fell quickly.

"Are you gonna be okay, Wise Girl?"

"I think so. But you're not."

"What…"

Annabeth pounced on me and straddled my torso. I placed my hands lightly on her thighs.

"What're you gonna do…?"

"You will regret tickling me like that Perseus Jackson."

"Uh oh, you're serious. You said my real name."

"You bet your adorable ass I'm serious."

Annabeth tried a straight, serious face. But I saw the twinkling lightheartedness in her eyes.

Annabeth leaned over me and kissed my mouth. I gave in right away and moaned into her mouth. Our tongues tangled and danced until I allowed her in. Her hands ran up my chest and ended up on each side of my face. My hands gripped her hips, then hugged around her back pulling her to me.

Annabeth began kissing down my face.

She kissed my chin.

She kissed my Adam's apple.

She kissed my chest.

Then made her way back up.

Her mouth hovered over mine.

My hand curled around the back of her head and pushed it down onto my waiting lips.

I felt Annabeth smile, and couldn't help but smile as well.

With one final kiss, Annabeth rolled off of me and looked at my clock.

"It's dinnertime, Percy."

"Let's skip dinner. I just want to be with you."

"Percy. I have other people to say hello to as well, you know. I came to see you first. I haven't even seen my siblings yet."

"They can wait."

I buried my face into her hair. My voice was muffled.

"I'm not letting you go. You're staying here. Kay?"

"Kay."

I lifted my head.

"Really?"

"No."

"Damn."

"Let's go, Seaweed Brain. Aren't you hungry? I bet the last hour and a half has taken a lot out of you. You're a growing Fish Boy. You need food. C'mon."

Annabeth got up and pulled my arm. I tried to resist, but figuring that Annabeth would only keep pulling until I fell to the floor (no mercy), I got up and kept hold of her hand and walked out with her.

We reluctantly let go of each other's hands to go to our own tables. I watched as Annabeth was greeted by her siblings with hugs, smiles and shouts.

I looked up at Chiron and he was smiling at the exchanges as well.

Rachel looked at me and nodded, trying to suppress a huge grin.

At the Hermes table, Connor and Travis looked at me, winked and nudged each other. Next to them, Jolie stared at me with empty eyes. Like she'd been betrayed.

She looked away.

I looked at her a bit longer, then, shrugging, went to sit down.

Rachel was sitting by me again.

Throughout dinner, Annabeth and I stole glances at each other.

"You're both so cute."

"Shut up, Rachel."

"It's true. You complete each other. I know that sounds cliché, but in this case, it is TOTALLY the truth."

"Thanks. I guess."

"Oh, Percy, knock it off."

I grinned.

"I can tell you're in a much better mood now that she's back."

"Can you?"

"Yeah."

I stuffed some turkey in my mouth.

Dinner couldn't pass quick enough. I wanted… needed to be by Annabeth again.

Chiron tapped his fork to his glass.

I didn't think it was loud enough, but everyone settled down. Annabeth and I looked at each other again, then at Chiron.

"Campers, I would like to welcome Miss Annabeth Chase back to camp. She was visiting Olympus to finish the final touches on her redesign and reconstruction of the Home of the Gods."

Cheering erupted. Annabeth blushed and glanced over at me. I grinned at her. It made her blush more.

"Miss Chase has been dedicated to this project for two years, ever since the defeat of Kronos. That is a story for another time, but let me tell you…"

The torches burned out with a huff.

The whole pavilion darkened.

The fire in the middle of the pavilion roared to life, reaching 10 feet above normal.

A harsh wind blew through, blowing hats and napkins away and tipping cups.

There were some screams, but mostly just gasps and fervent, incredulous looks.

The gust blew the entire fire out.

Myself, Annabeth, Clarisse and Chiron had all stood up.

Then there was an eerie gold glow.

_No._ _Not here. It can't be…_

A gold sphere appeared.

Looking at it closer, I realized it wasn't just a sphere.

It was an apple.

A golden apple.

Above Jolie's head.

Jolie looked up warily. When she saw the apple above her head, she gasped, and stared directly at me, drilling holes into my eyes.

Jolie had just been claimed.

We all looked to Chiron for answers.

He looked as baffled as everyone else.

**AN:**

Hi everyone! I'm back! Officially!

To bring everyone up to date, my laptop got a virus, so I had to wipe out the hard drive. Luckily, I was able to save all my documents, music and pictures, AND my fan fictions. I couldn't do anything ALL summer because of the virus. It was stupid and made me sad. But, now everything is okay. I just need to get new antivirus and bring my Microsoft Word back to life and I'm good to go!


	6. Of Storms and Cheeseburgers

There was a lot of murmuring around the pavilion.

The torches had burned back to life, along with the fire in the middle.

Chiron just stood there, looking at Jolie. It was scary to think that even he had no idea of what had just happened.

I glanced over at Annabeth. I knew that look. It was her "I'm trying to figure something out" look.

A bolt of lightning darted across the sky, lighting up the darkening sky.

It had to be the biggest bolt I had ever seen in my life.

That only meant one thing.

Zeus was _furious._

But why?

Annabeth still had a calculating look on her face, but she glanced up at the sky and then looked even more puzzled.

"Campers," Chiron announced.

The murmuring stopped. Jolie had not taken her eyes off of me since the golden apple faded from view.

"Please return to your cabins in an orderly fashion. I feel a large storm coming, and it would be better if everyone was inside before it hit."

"But doesn't the weather make its way around the camp?" Someone asked.

Chiron looked up.

"I'm afraid this one will get in."

As he said it, a crash of thunder that I could feel throughout my body, one that made everything shake, rumbled. Then there was more lightning. Constant flashes, every 2 seconds. It was insane.

The campers didn't need to be told twice. Everyone filed out of the pavilion quickly.

I waited for Annabeth. She walked over to me and I grabbed her hand.

"I told my cabin to go on without me, that I had to discuss some things with you. I told them to not expect me while they were still awake."

Good. Annabeth had already vouched for herself to be able to come to my cabin.

"Don't you need to grab anything?"

"My duffle bag is still in your cabin."

"Okay."

I glanced back towards Chiron. He was talking with Jolie, who was crying uncontrollably.

Annabeth and I didn't talk until we reached my cabin. Just as we entered, the largest downpour of rain I had ever seen flooded down from the sky.

"Whatever just happened made Zeus really angry." Annabeth commented.

"But why would it? Jolie isn't his… that's not his symbol."

"That's what I'm trying to reason out. Whose symbol is it?"

"I know that look, Annabeth."

"Only too well, I think, Seaweed Brain. Research time."

"Great."

Annabeth went over to her bag on the floor and put it on my bed. She drew out Daedalus' laptop and turned it on. A white ∆, the Greek symbol, _delta,_ or "D" glowed on the screen, signifying it powering up.

A blinding flash of lightning crashed. I saw it from my window.

All the lights went out.

Annabeth eeped a bit.

I could hear some screams of shock from the other cabins.

"We're not the only ones who just lost power." I said.

"Nope."

The screen on her laptop flickered and went out.

"Damn it!"

Annabeth clicked hopelessly on the keyboard.

She was mumbling to herself.

"Stupid laptop you'd think for such a great inventor he could make a laptop that didn't need electricity stupid Daedalus _di immortales…_"

I could barely see her outline from the dim lighting from my fountain.

My fountain.

I hadn't talked to my dad for the whole year. It's not simple to just contact gods in the mortal world. Too many weird looks, you know?

I walked over to the fountain.

This was an emergency. I had to see if Dad knew anything that could help us.

Lightning still flashed across the sky. The rain had not let up. Small streams ran down the paths and a large puddle was forming where the bonfire was usually held. Thunder rumbled in accordance to the constant lightning.

I drew a drachma from the pool and tossed it into the mist.

"Iris, please accept this drachma."

I waited for a few seconds. The drachma disappeared.

"Lord Poseidon."

A flickering image appeared. Not only flickering because of reception, but wavy because it was underwater.

A small Cyclops was facing away from me, seemingly intent on something I couldn't see.

"Tyson?"

The Cyclops turned, revealing one large brown eye on his forehead.

"Big Brother! Percy!"

"Hey, Big Guy! How have things been?"

"Good, good! Daddy has me making large fence! Made of… of… bee salt!"

"You mean, _basalt_, Tyson?"

"Yes! That! I had thought I had to capture large bees for salt! Do not bees make honey?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"If there were large bees, Tys, I have no doubt you would get their salt."

Tyson blushed bashfully.

"How things there, Brother?"

That brought me back. As good as it was to see and talk to Tyson, I had to stay on track. Annabeth had come up behind me, placing her hand on my shoulder and peeking over.

"Not good, Tyson. Where's Dad? I need to talk to him. It's important."

"He just left room for second. He be back shortly. Annabeth!"

Annabeth waved with her fingers.

"Hi, Tyson!"

"I hear from Daddy you were building Zeus' house again!"

"Yeah. I finished! It's all done."

"YAY FOR ANNABETH!" Tyson clapped his hands.

I heard a male voice in the background.

"Tyson? Who are you cheering for?"

"Daddy! Annabeth finished Zeus' house! And Percy here!"

"Percy's here?"

"Yes! In phone window! There!" He pointed at me.

I saw Poseidon's head peek into view.

He looked as he did whenever I saw him. Fishing hat, Bermuda shorts, sandals, a Hawaiian shirt. His black beard was streaked with a little grey, and my blue-green eyes reflected back to me eons older.

Poseidon did a little wave.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hello Percy! I expected you to contact me sooner."

"Sorry. Things have been hectic. You see, this new girl-"

"How's your mother and her new husband? Blowfish, right?"

"Paul Blofis, Dad. She's fine. Paul's great. Perfect for her. But that's not why I called… you see…"

"I'm sorry I missed your graduation. Still rebuilding here. It's been Hades here. Amphitrite just sits around like she used to in my old castle. Tyson's been doing a great job, here. I'm thinking of giving him a break. Would you mind if he came to stay with you for awhile?"

He wasn't paying any attention to the issue on hand.

"You know I don't mind, Dad. Now, really. Zeus is pissed. It's thundering and storming like all hell broke loose… and I was wondering if you know anything about…"

"Percy, I can't talk now. You know that whatever you have to say is important to me, but right now, my… uh, shrimp is burning. Talk to you later?" He waved his hand over the image. I just caught Tyson waving, and then the image was gone.

I hadn't even gotten a chance to talk to my dad.

How could he just… blow me off? Was I not important to him? Or was it that now that I had fixed everything for him and his stupid siblings, he thought he could just ignore me? My actual use had terminated, along with my importance?

"Percy…"

I could feel my body tensing in rage.

"Percy, you're shaking. Please… calm down."

My stomach felt like magma was being poured into it, and instantly crystallizing into rock as it hit the very bottom.

I was so angry.

I ripped my shoulder away from Annabeth and stalked to my bed. I kicked the foot of it so hard I bruised my big toe.

Cursing, I sat down hard on my mattress.

Annabeth tentatively walked over and sat down next to me. She placed her hand on my back and began to rub it up and down.

"Percy. It's okay."

I turned on her.

"Okay? It's NOT okay. He blew me off… for… pathetic edible crustaceans! He wouldn't even give me the chance to say anything! He just said what he wanted to say to me, and then waved me away like… like he could care less what's going on with me right now! He asks me the same questions ALL the TIME and I'm SICK of it… I just… I can't depend on him anymore. And my mom… I love her, but I don't see her much anymore because of Paul… and I barely had any friends in school… I CAN'T DEPEND ON ANYONE." I shouted as thunder rumbled. "Something wrong is going on here, and all my d- all _Poseidon _cares about is the charred state of his dinner!"

Annabeth had stayed silent this whole time, just rubbing my back. I stood up roughly, and put my hands on top of my head. I walked over to the window where my mood rivaled the weather.

By the window's reflection, I saw Annabeth hesitate to stand. When she did, I followed her reflection over to the fountain. She was looking into it sadly. I saw her turn her head and look in my direction. Then she walked over to me.

I felt her hand on my shoulder.

And I cracked.

I spun around and grabbed her shoulders and pulled her to me.

My lips crashed down on hers, and my tongue forced her lips to part.

I wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her body to me so it was flush against my body. The other hand I used to keep her head pressed to mine. I backed her up to the opposite wall and pinned her there. Her arms clung to my biceps, her nails digging into my flesh.

There was no space between us. Her thigh was positioned between my legs and I pushed up against it.

Our tongues raged war. We were devouring each other's lips hungrily.

The thunder roared outside.

The rain poured down in blinding sheets.

The lightning flickered constantly.

Annabeth jumped up to wrap her legs around my waist.

The hand I had put on her head trailed down, tracing every curve of her body until it scooped under to support her butt. Her thumbs dipped under my collar as she played with the fine hair at the back of my neck.

I backed up until I landed on my back onto my bed. I flipped us over so I was on top, legs straddling one of her legs.

Our lips detached hesitantly.

We were both breathing really hard… panting, getting air back into our systems. I got off of Annabeth and lay on my back next to her. I turned my head to see her face.

Her eyes had remained closed, and her mouth was open slightly. Her arms were lying palm up by her head in a very vulnerable position. It took all I had not to attack her again then and there.

But I had to calm down.

Annabeth sat up and placed her hand on my stomach.

"Are you okay, now?"

I looked up at her guiltily. I felt awful. I had been angry and had used her. I had taken my anger out on her by taking advantage of her. I wasn't like that.

"Annabeth," I whispered. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have behaved like that. I was… I'm so mad… and I'm sorry. I feel terrible. Please, forgive me."

"Percy. It's alright. Really. I'm here for you. Whenever you need me."

"But… I shouldn't have… forced you to… I'm sorry. I feel like an ass… I…"

Annabeth's finger pressed against my mouth. I placed an apologetic kiss on it.

"Percy, if you need to take out your anger like _that,_ I don't object at all." She gave me a small smile.

I tried to smile back, but still felt horrible.

"Percy, listen. It's not as if you were hurting me. For the gods' sake, you weren't beating me! You're acting like you're a terrible person."

"I am."

"PERSEUS JACKSON."

I flinched.

"DON'T YOU _DARE_ SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN. IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW YOURSELF ANYMORE, TAKE COMFORT IN THE FACT THAT I KNOW YOU _VERY_ WELL. I WILL _NOT _TOLERATE SPEECH LIKE THAT. EVER."

I had sat up as Annabeth had said this, not taking my eyes away from hers for a second. Her gray eyes flashed dangerously.

"What if I _had_ hurt you, Annabeth? I could have…"

"Percy, I know you too well. You would never hurt me, I know that. And if you felt like you could… I would just kick your ass right back."

I smiled. That was my Annabeth for you.

Annabeth smiled back at me.

"I'm sorry, Wise Girl. For everything. I hope you can forgive me for that atrocious behavior."

"'Atrocious,' huh? Well it's hard to not forgive you when you use extended vocabulary like that, Seaweed Brain."

"Shut up."

Annabeth gave me an "I win" look. I pretended to pout, but then looked back at her.

"I love you, Annabeth."

"I love you, too."

"You're… you're the only thing keeping me together right now. Maybe the only thing that _keeps _me together. After all we've been through… the only thing keeping me together."

Annabeth crawled into my lap facing me. Her legs hugged around my waist. She wrapped her arms around me and I returned the embrace.

"We keep each other together, Percy."

Not long after that, we both were in pajamas and asleep, safe in each other's arms. Keeping the other one together. Keeping us both together. We were one piece.

When I woke up the next morning it was still storming as hard as it had been when it first started last night. When I looked out the window, it was still so dark I couldn't see anything. I checked the clock to make sure Annabeth and I hadn't slept for a full 24 hours. Needless to say, it was 9:02 in the morning. Still looked like midnight out there to me.

"Zeus must be really ticked off."

Annabeth had woken up. I looked at her sleepy face and just nodded, then turned back to looking out the window. The rain running down the glass made it look like I was standing behind a waterfall looking out.

"The power's back on." I mentioned.

Annabeth looked at my digital clock.

"Yes, I can see that." She replied lamely. Then her eyes brightened. "That means we can use my laptop again!"

I groaned.

"No, seriously, Seaweed Brain. Whatever happened last night with Jolie needs to be looked into."

"I suppose so." I agreed.

Annabeth climbed out of my bed and went over to grab her laptop. Then she climbed back into bed covering herself up while sitting against the headboard. She beckoned to me with her head. I couldn't resist.

Climbing in next to her, we scooted together as close as we could get so we could both see the screen of her laptop.

Annabeth had navigated her way to a Greek mythology website.

"Why are we here?"

"To see if we can find the significance of the golden apple."

"Oh."

"It has to be here somewhere. In one of these myths… there has to be some sort of hint…"

We spent the next 2 hours reading Greek myths.

Perseus, Theseus, Odysseus, Hydra, Hercules, Andromeda, Achilles, the Trojan horse… many of the myths were a little too close to home… for both of us. Instead of reading them as myths, it was like reading our history.

Another hour passed and we had still found nothing. We had clicked all the links. Almost.

Both of us were getting frustrated.

"I was SO sure we would find something useful!" Annabeth pressed her face into my shoulder. I patted the side of her head gently.

"Can I try?"

Annabeth waved her hand in a "be my guest" sort of way.

I went to the search bar and typed "Wikipedia."

Annabeth gasped.

"Percy! You _know _we can't use Wikipedia…"

"That's only at school, Annabeth. Chill."

When it brought me to the website, I typed in the search bar: "Golden Apples in Greek mythlogy."

It asked me if I meant "Golden Apples in Greek _mythology._"

I clicked yes.

Annabeth chuckled. I grinned.

Only one link showed up.

I felt Annabeth tense.

I tensed as well. My eyes were about to burst out of my skull.

The link said:

_Hercules' Quests: Hera's Golden Apple Tree._

I clicked on it and we read the story.

Then we slammed down the lid of the laptop and just gawked at each other.

"Golden Apples…"

"Hera…"

"Jolie's mom is…"

"That's impossible! She's the goddess of marriage… and… she's not allowed to have…"

"But she _did…_ and now… Zeus knows… which is why it's storming so fiercly…"

"He is _furious._ This is against everything…"

"But… Zeus sired kids…"

"You don't get it, Percy! Hera is the goddess of marriage. Meaning she is entitled to be faithful to Zeus… you know, kind of like in European History?"

"I never paid attention in that class."

"_Di immortales,_ Seaweed Brain! Okay. Here goes. Hera is queen of the gods and married to Zeus who is king of the gods. She is also the goddess of marriage, meaning if Jolie is her daughter, she betrayed not only Zeus, but her allegiance as a goddess. In European history, the kings were allowed to have as many mistresses as they wanted, but the queen was sworn to stay true to the king. Any queen found accused of adultery would be executed…"

She stopped suddenly.

My breath hitched when we both contemplated the meaning of her last sentence.

"You don't think…"

"Zeus _wouldn't…"_

My eyes were beginning to dry out they were open for so long and so widely.

"He can't… kill Hera… can he?"

"Gods can't die, Percy… you should know that by now… but… he _could…"_

"No. He wouldn't. Not… not like he did to… to Kronos?"

Annabeth shrugged.

"Holy shit."

"You said it."

We sat quietly for the longest time.

"This will disrupt and destroy everything held as oaths to the gods… because Hera did this… do you think the other gods will start to ignore their duties? Start to be hypocrites?"

I thought for a second.

"Annabeth… this might be blasphemy…but… the gods are already hypocrites. They take what they do seriously, but… when push comes to shove… they only care about themselves."

"I… I guess so."

Once again, anger flared through me… leftover from last night.

To destroy the epicness of the moment, my stomach grumbled wildly. And very loudly.

It broke some of the tension and we started laughing.

"Well, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth as she once again climbed out of bed, setting her laptop on my nightstand, "Working hard must make you really hungry. I would've died laughing hearing your stomach after the ACTs."

"Shut up, Annabeth. You're as dyslexic and ADHD as I am. Do NOT start that with me." I laughed.

"Yes, but I have an advantage."

"And what would that be?"

"Percy. Who is my mother?"

"…Oh."

We smiled at each other. I turned away, allowing Annabeth privacy as she dressed.

She did the same for me. Kind of.

As soon as I was done putting on my shorts, Annabeth turned.

"Annabeth!"

"Percy, don't tell me I can't look at my boyfriend's torso." She grinned suggestively.

"But… but… I…" I felt myself turn pink. Some uncalled for images went through my head. I turned away in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Percy. But I _do _like your back, as well."

I quickly donned my shirt and jokingly glared at her.

"It's like you're in your swimming trunks. Stop being a baby."

"So why can't I watch _you_ dress, then? It's like you're in your bikini."

"That's different, Seaweed Brain. Those are my underclothes."

"Well… my… I…" I had no argument there.

"I win."

"You always win."

She kissed my cheek.

"You missed."

I brought her lips to mine and gave her a proper kiss.

"Alright. Here we go."

"Percy! Aren't we going to bring an umbrella?"

I looked at her mockingly.

"I have an advantage," I repeated.

"And that is…?"

"Annabeth. Who is my father?"

Annabeth blushed profusely. I smiled.

"Wow. And your mother being the goddess of wisdom. That sure flew over your head." I swiped my hand over my head horizontally and made a "whoosh" sound.

Annabeth rewarded me with a smack on the arm. A hard one.

We stepped out of my cabin into the rain. As long as she held my hand, she would stay dry.

We watched as other campers ran crazily, whether with or without umbrellas, to the Pavilion. Puddles of water splashed beneath their feet.

When we got closer to the Pavilion, we saw some campers running back with disappointed looks on their faces.

With a confused look at Annabeth, we walked into the Pavilion.

Some harpies stood at the head table.

"No food at the Pavilion today," one of them said, her voice like nails on a chalkboard.

"What?" said Annabeth, "How are campers supposed to be fed?"

"Nymphs will come by with dinner around 6:30." The other said. I winced at the sound of her voice.

"That's stupid. It's not even raining inside the Pavilion! Why can't…"

"Silence! Those are the orders. Return to your cabins before _we _eat _you." _The licked their lips, grinning and showing rotting pointed teeth.

"Eesh." I backed up.

Annabeth gave them a glare, and then pulled me along with her as we left.

"That's stupid! The campers need to eat! They must've done the same for breakfast this morning, only we didn't go. I mean… is Chiron nuts?"

"I don't know, but I think we need to trust him. He's never led us astray." I squeezed her hand and let us back into my cabin.

The smell of burgers, fries, onion rings and chicken nuggets filled my nose.

I looked around my cabin.

"Hey, guys. Hungry?"

A girl with punk style hair, black clothing with a spiky choker and bracelet, a nose stud, and multiply pierced ears greeted my eyes.

My cousin.

"Thalia!" Annabeth screeched letting go of my hand and running over to where Thalia was sitting. Thalia stood up and they hugged each other.

"It's been so long!"

"I know!"

"How's everything with Artemis?"

"Great! How did the end of school go?"

"Awesome! I graduated with honors."

"I couldn't expect less from a daughter of Athena…"

I stopped listening after awhile. Girl stuff.

Thalia walked over to me.

"Percy."

"Hey."

She hugged me.

I hugged back.

"Thought you were supposed to stay away from _males_" I said, emphasizing "males" with a creepy, low and wobbly voice.

"Shut the hell up, Percy. You're my cousin. If Artemis can talk to Apollo, then Thalia can talk to Percy."

"Whatever."

Thalia punched my arm.

"Anyway. Like I said: hungry? I brought cheeseburgers. I realized we didn't make that happen. So I brought Burger King. Lots and lots of food. Dig in!"

"Thalia, you're the best." I said.

"Agreed." said Annabeth.

Thalia just smiled and grabbed a burger for herself. She had brought at least 20 burgers, 10 packs of fries, 10 packs of onion rings, and 5 10-piece chicken nuggets.

It was a feast. A feast of amazingness.

"So Thalia," I said with my mouth full of burger, "Can't you do anything about this storm?"

"Sorry, Percy, but no. This is my dad's storm." Her face darkened.

"I'm assuming you know why it's so bad."

Thalia looked up at Annabeth.

"I've only heard rumors. Apollo was telling Artemis stuff that was happening on Olympus, and Artemis relayed it to me, being her second. It's crazy up there. Apparently, Hera cheated on my dad, and has a daughter who is here, who's been claimed and now he's put Hera on lockdown, how, I can't tell you, but all the gods are in furious discussion about what's to be done. Hera's screaming like a maniac, claiming she knows nothing about any of this. As soon as my dad found out, the storm started. It's covering over half the country. Worse than when they thought Percy stole the Master Bolt."

"Are all the gods up there?"

"What do you mean, Percy?"

"Never mind."

I didn't want to relay the fact that Hades was missing.

I also didn't want her to think I was asking about my dad. I didn't care what he was up to. He didn't return the favor, after all.

"We have to get to the bottom of this. If Jolie-"

"Is that her name?"

"Jolie? Yeah. That's who was claimed last night. A golden apple appeared above her head."

"Golden apple?"

"Yeah," Annabeth cut in. "Like Hera's golden apple tree? One of Hercules' tasks?"

"Oh, I see. That must be her symbol."

"Yeah. Right when she was claimed, Zeus started all this."

"Man. I wish he'd just chill. He's gonna start floods."

"Nah. I'll keep 'em at bay."

"The floods? Oh yes, Percy. You do that." Thalia smiled.

"I'll do my best." I winked at Annabeth.

"How are you two?"

Annabeth and I looked at each other. Annabeth grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"Never better." She smiled.

"Gross, Annabeth. Men are disgusting." Thalia joked.

"You're only saying that because you're with Artemis."

"You're right. I don't mind Percy. Or Nico, but he should smile more."

We all laughed.

"Thalia… did you… your hair was covering it before, but… when did you get your eyebrow pierced?"

"Oh! A few months ago. I walked into this piercing/tattoo place and they all looked at me weird. Probably because I'm so young. Anyway, had to use the mist to make myself look older so they'd do it." She smirked.

"Thalia…"

"What? I think it's cute. I'm thinking of getting my tongue done, too…"

"NO THALIA!" Annabeth and I both shouted at the same time.

"I'm TOTALLY kidding. Chill guys, chill."

Around 6:30 there was a knock on the door.

I got up to answer it and saw a water nymph holding a tray of plastic covered food items.

"Thanks."

She disappeared when I took the tray.

"Anyone want sandwiches?" I joked.

Annabeth and Thalia groaned. We were all still full from Thalia's treats.

"I might explode. Then die." Moaned Thalia.

"I think I'll just die." Said Annabeth.

"Well, Annabeth, I'll just save these for tomorrow in case the same thing happens."

"You actually have a good idea, Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said in mock-awe as Thalia applauded.

"Shut up." I smiled.

"Are you going to be staying here for the night, Thalia? At your very own cabin?"

"Naw. Let's have a sleepover. I'll stay the night. Annabeth and I get the bed."

"What? No fair! I…"

"You can sleep in the fountain, Perc."

"No fair. Fine. I'll sleep in Tyson's bunk, then."

"Okay!" Thalia and Annabeth began chatting again.

I pouted in the corner for awhile, in jest, until Annabeth came over, kissed my nose, and dragged me back to talk with Thalia.

The storm raged on outside.

Annabeth was right. We did have to do something about this.

**AN**

Phew! Kind of a longer chapter, there! ::Wipes sweat from brow:: Well, here it is. Chapter 6. Read and Review if you wish! :D

Lily


	7. Of Prophecies and Problems

Thalia had left early in the morning. She made sure to wake us up so that she could say goodbye.

I barely registered her leaving. I was sleeping so soundly in Tyson's bunk, but I heard Annabeth get up to hug Thalia goodbye after Thalia had nudged me awake to say goodbye.

I heard the door slam and was about to go back to sleep, but I felt a weight on the bed that scooted closer to me. My eyes were shut, so I was unprepared for Annabeth to kiss my neck and snuggle in next to me, hugging me to her. I turned on my side, groggily, facing her and hugging her waist to me as well.

Annabeth hummed in contentedness, and we both went back to sleep.

The next movement I registered was Annabeth getting out of bed to go back to her cabin a few hours later.

I kept sleeping.

"_You're going to lose everything, Chiron. Everything."_

"_Don't think I don't know who you are. I know about Jolie. I'm planning on telling Zeus. You won't get away with this."_

_A dark figure tossed a golden apple up and down. Her golden eyes glimmered dangerously. _

_She pointed a finger at Chiron, and he went stiff. His eyes rolled about wildly, trying to seek control of his body again. He was lifted into the air._

"_And off we go. You won't tell anyone."_

_The figure then looked at me._

_When did I get here?_

"_You will lose everything as well, Perseus Jackson. Don't think _anyone_ is exempt from my wrath."_

For like the fiftieth time this month, I woke up in a cold sweat.

I jumped out of bed, pulled shorts and a shirt on, and ran outside.

To no one's surprise, it was still storming like there was no tomorrow.

I started running. I didn't know where I was headed, but I knew my destination would reveal something no one wanted to deal with.

I was right.

I ran up the stairs to the porch of the Big House. Crashing into the entrance, I instantly shouted for Chiron.

No answer.

I ran everywhere in the house, shouting and shouting.

Running back outside, I shouted once again.

For the next half hour, I ran all around camp yelling for Chiron.

And for a half hour, I received no answer.

No one was outside.

I stood in the downpour, feeling the raindrops but not getting wet.

Chiron had known something that that figure didn't want him to reveal.

_We would lose everything._

I didn't know what that meant, and I didn't want to.

I had been close to losing everything practically for the past 7 years. My life not forfeit to that claim.

I jogged over to the Athena cabin.

I knocked on the door.

"Percy! What are you doing here?"

"I need to see Annabeth."

"Oh." The blonde haired boy turned around and shouted for Annabeth.

"Jake! Let Percy in. He's standing in the rain."

"But he's not getting wet…"

"It's still courteous to invite people in. Seriously."

Annabeth's form took over at the door. She grabbed my hand and pulled me in.

"Annabeth, we need to talk in private."

"Oh, well… my cabin won't do. Uh…"

She turned to the Athena kids.

"Guys, hang tight for awhile. I'll be right back."

Then we entered the rain again and ran to my cabin.

Going inside, Annabeth instantly went to sit on my bed.

"What's going on, Percy?"

"Chiron's gone."

Annabeth's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.

"Wh-what? He's… gone? How can he be gone?"

I told her about my dream and my search.

Annabeth sat silently.

"You're saying Chiron knew something that the woman in your dream didn't want known?"

"Yeah. And… and she was tossing a golden apple up and down in her hand."

"Hera?"

"I don't think so. I've heard Hera speak. This wasn't her."

"Chiron said he knew about Jolie. What about her?"

"Not sure. But, all we really know is that-"

"CHIRON'S MISSING!"

The door crashed open revealing a very stressed looking Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Her hair was unruly and she was soaking wet.

"Rachel!"

"Chiron is gone! I've looked everywhere in the Big House for him, and I don't feel right. Something's really off. I… I can't explain it. I just… Something is really, _really _wrong, Percy."

"We already know Chiron's gone, Rachel." Annabeth snapped. She still had some negative feelings about Rachel.

"But… where is he? We have to find him! He didn't… he didn't leave voluntarily."

"We've gathered that. Percy had a dream."

"Tell me."

I told her.

Rachel didn't respond for awhile.

I waved my hand in front of her face.

Her mouth was slung open, her face had gone extremely pale.

She started to tremble.

"Rachel…?"

"Percy! Shh… she's… she's going to…"

Rachel's eyes glowed green.

A green mist gathered about her and she began to speak in a voice that wasn't hers.

_Up on mountain high aloft_

_Chaos reigns and trust is lost._

_Elemental produce once again bestowed_

_Another choice to the same hero._

I looked over at Annabeth. Her eyes were focused. She was thinking. Really hard.

I looked back over at Rachel. She was still standing, her eyes glowing.

Then they faded, and Rachel began to fall.

I ran over and caught her under her armpits.

She remained limp for a few moments, then shook her head.

She looked up at me.

"Percy…?"

"It's okay Rachel… is anything wrong?"

"Well…"

"Yes?"

"I don't remember everything being upside down after reciting prophecies."

"That's because I'm holding you up, and you're looking at me upside down."

"Oh! Everything makes sense in the world again. What did I say?"

I looked at Annabeth, still concentrating.

"Something about trust being lost and produce and another choice."

"Okay."

"I feel like I'm missing something really obvious."

"Annabeth?"

"This just seems too simple. Right when Jolie is claimed, Hera is blamed…"

"Hey! That rhymes! You could be the Oracle, too."

"Shut up, Rachel."

"Sorry."

"Anyway… let's go back to golden apples. We know that Hera's golden apple tree was planted in the… the Garden of the Hesperides…." Annabeth's eyes teared up.

My thoughts became distant as well.

The Garden of the Hesperides. We had been there. We had seen the tree. That's where our friend, Zoe Nightshade, had made her last stand against her father, Atlas.

"…and, the dragon guards it… and one of Hercules' tasks was to get the apples, and even though only gods can pick them, he tricked Atlas into picking them while he held the sky, then gave the sky back to Atlas, and took the apples… it's just… everything is so chaotic right now. I can't think straight."

Annabeth put her head in her hands. I went over and sat next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me.

"I'm missing something. It's right there, Percy, but I can't access it. It's like I'm being blocked out of my own head. It's really frustrating."

She looked up at me.

I kissed her.

"Don't worry about it, Wise Girl. You're a daughter of Athena. You'll figure things out. You always do."

I smiled at her.

She tried to smile back, but it ended up looking like a grimace.

"Alright. Let's discuss this prophecy."

We looked at Rachel.

She put her hands up.

"Nuh-uh. Don't look at me. I only recite them. I can't interpret them for you even if I wanted to."

We sighed.

Rachel sat down disheartened.

"It's okay, Rachel. We don't blame you. It's not your fault."

"Okay. Up on mountain high aloft, trust is lost. Well… Mount Olympus…"

"It could only be Olympus. Is it still considered a mountain, though?"

"Yes, Percy."

"Just checking."

"Another choice to the same hero… same hero? What heroes have made important choices in the past?"

"Uhhh…"

"Well, Theseus, the first Perseus… Achilles…"

"It could be anyone, Annabeth."

"Okay, skip that for now. Elemental produce. Well, produce is fruits and vegetables. But elements? Like the Periodic Table of Elements? Or elements like wind, fire, water…?"

"You're thinking way too hard, Wise Girl."

"And you're not thinking at all, as usual, Seaweed Brain." She smiled.

"I leave that to you. You do it for the both of us."

"Chaos reigns… well, Zeus and Hera are arguing. That's pretty chaotic."

"I would think so. We're getting the blunt end of it, after all."

"Are we going to talk about what we're going to do about Chiron?"

Rachel interrupted our… well, Annabeth's, pondering.

We both looked up at her.

She was staring intently back.

"Well, okay. Chiron is missing. We have no idea where he could've gone… or been taken to."

"Wouldn't this leave Percy in charge? He took over for Mr. D, wouldn't he be next to sort of… run everything?"

Rachel's revelation scared me.

Annabeth looked from her to me.

"I… I suppose it… it would."

"Oh no."

"It'll be okay, Percy… I mean, we'll help you."

"Still. I just… I don't know."

I looked around the room. Anywhere but at Annabeth and Rachel.

Me? Run the camp? Plan and organize a search party for Chiron?

Oh man.

I hadn't noticed that I had been staring at my fountain.

Did I stare at it when I needed help? I was _not _asking Poseidon for help. I refused… I would…

My fountain was glowing brighter.

And it was talking.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!"

I jumped up.

"ANNABETH CHASE!"

Annabeth screamed a little.

"JOLIE DIFFICOLTA!"

We looked around.

I approached my fountain and looked into it.

Staring back at me was the elfish face of the Messenger god, Hermes.

"Percy! Annabeth! I have a message from Zeus. Your presences are required, along with the presence of Ms. Jolie Difficolta, for the trial of the Queen of the gods, Hera. The trial is being held tomorrow. You must report to the Throne Room at noon. Please relay this information to Ms. Difficolta. I wouldn't be late, either. Zeus' temper has been, well… I'm sure you've noticed."

He disappeared.

"A trial? For Hera? Are they serious?"

"Why do they need us there?"

"I can understand the need for Jolie, I mean, she's sort of the instigator, but…"

It was unbelievable. There was going to be a trial for the Queen of the gods. And if she lost… Who would take her side? This would split the gods up… like the Trojan War did.

Which side would my father take?

Probably Zeus'. It was his brother after all. They were part of the Big Three.

Annabeth's mom?

She would take Hera's. She had in the Trojan War, as well.

What would this do to me and Annabeth? Personally? As a couple?

"We need to tell Jolie, Percy."

"Alright… well, let's go to the Hermes cabin."

"She's not in the Hera cabin?" Rachel asked.

"Of course she isn't! That would insult Zeus further!"

"Oh."

"Come on."

We all made our way out of my cabin into the pouring rain. I held both Annabeth's hand and Rachel's hand so they wouldn't get wet. It was slightly akward.

We came to the Hermes cabin and knocked on the door.

"PERCY! My man! What up?"

Connor had answered the door.

"Oh, where are my Hermes manners? Come in! You are most welcome!"

"Uh, thanks, Connor."

"Too much?"

"Too much."

All three of us walked in.

"Where's Jolie?"

"On her bunk. Curled up. Facing the wall. She doesn't talk to anyone. Good luck."

Connor slapped my shoulder.

I looked at Annabeth and Rachel.

Then walked over to Jolie.

I crouched by her bed and placed my hand on her shoulder. She tensed.

"Jolie?"

No answer.

"Jolie. Look at me. Please."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Everyone hates me. You probably hate me."

"I… I don't… hate you, Jolie. I need to tell you something. Would I be here if I hated you?"

She peeked behind her.

"I suppose not…"

"Yeah."

She rolled around to her stomach and pushed herself up on her elbows, looking at me.

"What is it, Percy?" she asked lamely.

"Well, you see, we got a message from Hermes, and he said that Zeus needs you, me and Annabeth up on Olympus for Hera's… uh… trial."

"Trial?"

"Yes."

"It's all my fault. I've made this mess."

"No! Don't think that, Jolie. It's not your fault…"

"Everything is always my fault. I'm a magnet for trouble."

"We need to be there at noon tomorrow. Uh, should we come and get you when we're ready?"

"Sure. I guess."

"It'll be okay, Jolie."

"No, it won't. Don't lie to me, Percy. It's not going to be okay." She buried her face in her pillow.

That signaled the end of this conversation.

I stood up, looked at the back of her head a bit longer, then turned around to leave.

I approached Connor and Travis, who were busy trying to beat each other at Super Mario Kart.

"DAMN YOU, BANANA PEEL!"

"AW! MOST HEINOUS SHELL SKILLS, TRAVIS!"

"Guys."

"FOR REALS, CONNOR, IF YOU EVEN THINK OF USING THAT LIGHTNING BOLT… bastard."

"BAHA! YOU'RE A TEENY WEENY LUIGI! SO THERE!"

"GUYS!"

The game paused.

"Dude. Sorry, Percy."

"Intense, you know?"

"Uh, yeah. Anyway. You guys are the heads of the Hermes cabin. So I need you guys to come to the Big House around 8 o'clock tonight. Can you do that?"

"Sure, man. We'll be there."

"Thanks."

I walked over to Annabeth and Rachel.

"Calling a meeting, Percy?"

"Yeah. It's time the rest of the camp knows what's going on. Spread the word to the other cabins."

We split up outside.

Soon, all the cabin heads were informed of my impromptu evening meeting.

Annabeth and I sat in my cabin silently.

Rachel had gone back to the Big House. She wanted to make chocolate chip cookies for the meeting.

Gotta love Rachel.

"Percy? You okay?"

"This is too much, Annabeth. I haven't felt this overwhelmed in the longest time. Since…"

"You don't have to say it, Percy. I know."

"I meant it, you know."

"Meant what?"

"You _are_ the only thing that's keeping me together. I'd be a wreck right now if I didn't have you with me."

Annabeth smiled sadly and grabbed my hand. She squeezed it gently.

"Seaweed Brain… we'll make it through this. You'll see. I'll stand by you the whole way. We've been through so much together… and a lot worse, too. We're… we're pros at this stuff."

I looked into her ashen eyes.

She closed the distance and took my lower lip in her mouth.

It took me a few seconds to respond, but when I did, I placed my hand halfway on her face and neck and pulled her closer to me.

I deepened the kiss and she turned her head letting me have more access.

Her nails raked through my hair.

Our kissing calmed down a bit, and soon we were just giving each other pecks, slowing down.

Annabeth kissed my nose and we stopped kissing.

I looked down into my lap.

Annabeth placed both her hands on the sides of my face and brought my gaze back up to hers.

She kissed me on the lips again, as if reassuring me that what she had said was true.

We sat there, foreheads together, noses grazing against each other for what seemed like hours.

"You're too good to me, Wise Girl."

Annabeth gave me a small smile.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing."

I laughed.

"I love you, Seaweed Brain. Never forget that."

I smirked slightly.

"I might be a Seaweed Brain, but I could never forget the most important thing in my life."

Soon enough, it was around ten minutes to eight.

Annabeth and I made our way to the Big House.

When we got inside, the ping pong table was about halfway full. Clarisse, Connor, Travis, Rachel, and a few other head counselors were there.

"So the Athena and Poseidon cabins have showed up finally."

"We still have five minutes, Clarisse. Chill out."

"What were you two up to?"

"Nothing. I don't know why you always have to ask that."

Clarisse just gave us a knowing look.

"Whatever. You can try to hide all you want."

"Shut up, Clarisse." Annabeth and I said at the same time.

We sat down next to each other. I grabbed Annabeth's hand under the table and she squeezed it.

We all waited a few more minutes.

Within that timeframe, everyone else showed up. Rachel ventured into the kitchen to retrieve her cookies.

"Okay, everyone. Sorry about the short notice of this meeting, but a few things have happened that I thought were really important for everyone to start knowing about."

I had everyone's eyes on me, now.

"First of all, the Claiming. All of you are aware of the claiming of Jolie Difficolta."

"Who couldn't be aware of that? It's been storming ever since." The Hephaestus cabin counselor said.

"That's another thing I want to talk to you all about. The reason it's storming is because-"

"I have cookies!" Rachel barged in from the kitchen carrying a plate piled about a foot high with precariously stacked chocolate chip cookies.

Everyone looked up and cheered. Rachel set the plate in the middle of the table and everyone dug in.

I just waited.

Soon, everyone was munching on cookies, including me, and looking at me once again.

"Anyway. As I was about to say before we had a most delicious interruption,"

Rachel blushed.

"The reason it has been storming is because Zeus is angry. Thalia told me what she heard from Artemis: It seems as though Jolie is the daughter of Hera. All of you know why that would be upsetting to not only Zeus, but the rest of the gods."

A few people gasped. Everyone stopped chewing.

"What are they planning to do?" Clarisse asked.

"Annabeth and I received a message from Hermes saying there is going to be a trial tomorrow at noon. Annabeth, Jolie and I are to make an appearance. I don't know what will… what Zeus will do if Hera… loses. She seems pretty adamant on the fact that she has no idea what is going on. But Zeus doesn't believe her."

Everyone began talking at once. To me, and amongst themselves. Once things settled down, I prepared to give them even more distressing news.

"That's not all, either."

"Wait, there's more?" the counselor to the Apollo cabin asked incredulously.

"Yes. Chiron… Chiron has disappeared. Unexpectedly. Against his will, Annabeth and I are pretty sure."

This caused even more of an uproar.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"Mr. D and Chiron are gone… who's in charge?"

"I'll be in charge!"

"No! You don't even know the day of the week!"

"It's Tuesday!"

"Wrong!"

"Then what day is it?"

"Not telling!"

"EVERYONE. SHUT. UP!"

Everyone shut up.

Clarisse had that effect on people.

She had stood up and had both hands pressed to the table.

"I'll tell you who's going to be in charge. Percy! Percy is. Because he took over Mr. D's position on Chiron's request, and now that Chiron is gone, since he seemed to trust Percy enough with Mr. D's position, I think it is most appropriate that he takes Chiron's position as well. Plus, who saved Olympus two years ago?"

Everyone was silent.

"Clarisse, don't bring that into this…"

"Shut up, Percy. To me, it's only obvious that you should be in charge with Chiron and Mr. D both missing in action."

I had already known it would come to this.

No one argued against it.

"So what's the plan, Percy?"

"Well, I… uh… I was thinking of getting a search party together for Chiron. We don't know who took him, or where he is. As far as I'm concerned, there are no hints or traces either. Before I can make a final decision, would it be alright with everyone to postpone that until after the trial tomorrow? By then, we might have more information to work with."

"That seems sensible."

"I agree with that."

"That'll work."

"Great. Annabeth and I will call a meeting tomorrow then, to discuss what went on at the trial, and anything else we learn. Until then, uh, thanks for coming and hopefully we can get things sorted out quickly. You can all, uh, go now."

I refused to tell them about Rachel's prophecy. This information was enough for now.

People stood up slowly and began to exit. Some stopped to ask me a few questions which I answered to the best of my abilities.

Annabeth held onto my hand the entire time.

When we got back to my cabin, it was already past ten.

I was exhausted. So much responsibility. I didn't know how I would be able to handle all of this.

Annabeth came out of my bathroom all showered and in her camisole and boxer shorts.

"You can get in, now."

"Thanks."

I grabbed my towel and showered.

When I came back out, drying my hair, wearing my pajama pants, I found Annabeth sitting on my bed reading something on her laptop.

"Whatcha doing?"

Annabeth looked up.

"Oh, uh… just trying to give my brain a trigger. I just know that certain information is evading me. I know that I know this information… but something is not letting me get to it. I'm an expert on Greek mythology, Percy..."

"I know you are."

"I've studied all the stories… every little detail. I just can't help thinking that Hera is not the one to be blamed for this. It can't be. Every myth about her points to the fact that she is serious about her… work, if that's what you want to call it. She can't be Jolie's mother. It's… not in her make-up."

"I have that feeling, too. All these dreams I've been having… it's someone I can't identify. I haven't seen them before."

"We should probably make this known at the trial tomorrow. Whatever happens, we CANNOT let Hera lose. It would destroy the gods. They would…"

"Take sides. Like they did in the Trojan War."

"Yes. Just like…" Annabeth stopped.

"Annabeth?"

"The Trojan War! It has something to do with the Trojan War! I… I think I… DAMN! I lost it again!"

Annabeth slammed her laptop shut.

"Calm down, Annabeth."

"NO! My knowledge is being withheld from me purposefully! I… I KNOW THIS STUFF, PERCY!" Annabeth had tears streaming down her face.

I grabbed her face and used my thumbs to wipe away the tears.

"Annabeth. I believe you. Someone is screwing with us. I think it's the same person in my dreams. The same person who abducted Chiron, because he _did _know… didn't have his knowledge evading him. This person does NOT want to be found out and they are making as much trouble as they can to make sure they stay unknown. It's okay, Annabeth. It's not your fault. You're fine. You're my Wise Girl. You'll always be my Wise Girl. It's not just a nickname. It's who you _are._"

Annabeth looked at me, eyes still watering. I know she felt helpless. Having a thought just evading you is really frustrating. Happens to me all the time. Probably why I'm Seaweed Brain and she's Wise Girl.

"It makes me so angry that someone can be tempering with my brain."

I kissed her mouth. Gently caressing her lips with mine.

"I know. I know. Just calm down now."

I laid us both down, and Annabeth curled into my side. I brought the covers over us and turned off my light.

We had a trial to go to tomorrow.

I could only hope they would listen to what we had to say.

We had to protect Hera.


	8. Of Trials and Misunderstandings

The elevator to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building might have been the shortest ride of my life.

Because I didn't want to go to Olympus.

Not only was I nervous, but I could sense Annabeth's and Jolie's nervousness as well.

It was unnerving in the highest degree.

Annabeth and I had discussed what we were going to try to prove to the gods during Hera's trial.

We were going to prove Hera innocent and tell them our theories and what had been going on.

They couldn't overlook such evidence to the contrary… could they?

Well, they were the gods. I suppose they could. I mean, they had to listen to us… they weren't exactly…

"Percy."

Annabeth was holding my hand and shaking my shoulder.

"Huh?"

"We're here."

I tried to pull myself together, and I could see Annabeth was trying to do the same.

Jolie just looked frightened beyond everything.

The doors of the elevator slid open, revealing the most mystifying place in recorded history… or mythology in everyone else's case.

The brightness of the marble blinded all of us.

Jolie looked around amazed and astounded.

I did as well. It was Annabeth's greatest work, after all.

"It looks amazing, Annabeth…"

Annabeth just shrugged.

"I didn't want you to see my work like this, Percy. Not with such a negative connotation to it now."

"I could never think negatively of this… this… _beauty_, Annabeth. Even with Hera's trial looming ahead of us… Olympus has never looked better. Ever." I brought her hand up to my mouth and kissed it gently.

Annabeth looked at me with a small blush gracing her cheeks. She tried to hide a smile, but failed.

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain."

Jolie had been looking at us the whole time. I could see out of the corner of my eyes.

Her face had flushed… like… like she was jealous and was imagining putting herself in Annabeth's place. She had a glazed look over her eyes.

I turned my face to her fully.

"Are you okay, Jolie? You look really stressed. It's going to be okay…"

Her eyes made contact with mine and… flickered gold?

No.

She shook her head as if to ward off something.

"I… I'm… I'll be okay…"

I squeezed her shoulder a bit for reassurance.

I needed reassurance as well.

No telling how it was going to be in there.

We walked through the deserted roads. The new marble almost seemed like it was glowing. Annabeth had done beautiful work. She had reconstructed buildings in an Ancient Greek plus modern era type of way. The buildings had the same structural material, but had different twists and angles at the tops. She had also added some more color. There were more than whites and offshoots of it. There were pastel and pale colors… it all blended so well. Along with the architectural element, Annabeth had also included the artistic and "interior design" elements. It was like I was walking through a garden that couldn't possibly be real. But it was.

Annabeth stopped and pulled me back just before we began our ascent to the steps of the Throne Room.

"It's only 11:30, Percy…" Annabeth started.

"Yeah?"

"Could we… make a slight detour?"

She looked at me hopefully.

I couldn't resist those eyes.

Jolie looked at us questioningly.

"Of course."

"Great!"

Annabeth began pulling me to the left of the stairs. We went through a series of alleyways that had grapevines and morning glories growing on the walls.

There were various openings between pillars showing lavish gardens and fountains, but Annabeth was pulling me so fast, the pillars and scenery blurred together making me dizzy.

We took a sharp right turn and stopped.

I don't think my eyes could have gotten any bigger.

My mouth dropped open.

It was the most beautiful fountain I had ever seen…

But in the middle of it…

There was a statue.

I couldn't mistake anything on that sculpture.

The pool that the fountain filled into had to have been 100 feet in diameter.

The fountain had twelve spurts, for the twelve Olympian gods, and each had their likeness carved on the spurts, each god "holding" the fountain in which water was shooting out of.

But, in the middle of the circle of gods… was something that brought tears to my eyes.

The sculpture was… _us._

Everyone that had been directly involved two years ago.

Those still living… and those who had passed on.

I stood in the middle, lifesize, with Riptide pointed in the air. Annabeth and Grover were at my sides, looking up at it.

Surrounding us were Beckendorf, Thalia, Clarisse, Tyson, Nico, Salina… and others.

If that wasn't enough to make my eyes prick with tears…

On a small marble island, just outside of our sculpture group, was another statue.

It meant as much to me as it probably did to Annabeth.

A likeness of Luke stood, with wings protruding from his back.

His hand was reaching out to our group.

Carved on the rim of the pool were all the names, written in Ancient Greek and finished with gold leaf.

"Ann… Annabeth…"

"This was the surprise."

I turned to her and grasped both of her hands in mine.

"You… you designed this… it's… it's beautiful… no… there're no words… Annabeth…"

"I'm glad you like it, Percy. I knew it would mean a lot to you… after all we… everybody went through…"

"It's… I don't think I've seen anything equally as amazing."

"I got the idea kind of from the World War Two Memorial in Washington D.C… This… it also lights up at night… and I wanted to remember everybody. I know only some are depicted in the statue, but _everyone_ who was there or involved has their name carved into the fountain."

We walked closer so we could read some of the names.

_Charles Beckendorf_

_Zoe Nightshade_

_Bianca di Angelo_

_Percy Jackson_

_Annabeth Chase_

_Grover Underwood_

_Nico di Angelo_

_Mrs. O'Leary_

_Daedalus "Quintus"_

_Tyson_

_Thalia Grace_

_Rachel Elizabeth Dare…_

Annabeth and I walked slowly around the fountain, reading all the names and silently remembering.

When we were finished, Annabeth checked her watch.

"It's about 11:50, Perc… we should start heading up."

"Right. Where's Jolie?"

We… I had totally forgotten about her.

I turned my head every which way.

Then I found her.

She was standing where we had entered the fountain area.

Her eyes were narrowed at Annabeth and her fists were clenched.

"Jolie…?"

Everything stopped.

"Yeah?"

"Nevermind…"

Annabeth and I made our way over to her and all three of us walked back to the steps of the throne room.

We climbed as slowly as we could… trying to stall the inevitable.

I kept catching Jolie glaring at Annabeth… and our hands together.

Then we entered the room.

The thrones were all in a circle, with each god sitting in it… except Hera.

Hera was in the middle of everyone… with celestial bronze shackles around her wrists. She stood defiantly facing Zeus and glancing at everyone else, daring them to say something against her.

Next to Zeus, in his pinstriped suit, was my… _Poseidon._ Wearing what he usually wears. And put in between Zeus and Hera's throne was a dark bejeweled throne… the throne of Hades. And it was occupied… by Hades.

He had been on Olympus the whole time?

That seemed like… like such a not-so-epic climax. Thrill killer. Whatever.

All three of us walked all the way into the room.

At the base of Zeus's throne were three witness pedestals I only assumed were for us.

We made our way over to them.

Annabeth stopped in front of her mom first.

Of course she hadn't let go of my hand.

Athena looked disapprovingly at our linked hands.

"Annabeth, dear. How have you been?" Athena smiled down at her daughter.

"I've been fine, Mother."

"I am sorry I was not here to witness your finishing touches on Olympus."

"It's alright, Mother. I understand. You're a goddess. You have other duties."

Athena smiled sadly.

Then she looked at me and the distasteful sneer returned to her ethereal face.

"Perseus. I see you are still manipulating my Annabeth to have feelings for you. I can assure you, no daughter of Athena would willingly bask in the presence of a son of Poseidon."

Her voice was menacing and low.

"I will not tolerate such an insult! Even from one so clever as yourself, Athena."

My father had stood up from his throne, his trident glowing green in his hand.

"Father… please. Don't… there's already enough…"

"Silence, Son. Athena, I have no problem with your daughter with my son. I don't see why this has to be a problem with you."

"It is an insult to wisdom. What do you call Perseus, dear? _Seaweed Brain?"_

"Mom… that's… affectionate…"

"Of course it is." Athena didn't look like she had relented.

"And what do you call Annabeth, Percy…" and glaring at Athena, he finished, "_Wise Ass?"_

"THAT'S IT! POSEIDON, YOU WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THAT! HOW DARE YOU INSULT ONE OF THE HOUSE OF ATHENA IN FRONT OF THE VERY GODDESS HERSELF? FATHER, I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH IMPUDENCE FROM YOUR BROTHER…!"

"HAVING YOU AS THE GODDESS OF WISDOM IS AN INSULT IN ITSELF! HOW COULD ONE SO SELFISH AND EGOTISTICAL POSSIBLY HAVE ENOUGH SENSE TO LOOK BEYOND HER OWN FAULTS…?"

I tried hopelessly to stop the bickering.

"Please… Dad… Lady Athena… stop…"

"Mom! Stop it! I love Percy…"

But Athena and Poseidon were too far into their argument.

Zeus, meanwhile, had been… literally basking under his own thundercloud. A small storm was brewing above his head. His eyes were colder than ice.

"SILENCE THE LOT OF YOU!"

Zeus stood and lightning crackled all around the room.

He pointed at Athena.

"YOU, DAUGHTER… IF YOU CANNOT CONTROL YOUR GRUDGES TOWARD YOUR UNCLE, THEN I SUGGEST YOU SHUT YOUR SMART MOUTH AND STOP BEING A SMARTASS!"

Athena sat and glared at me.

"AND YOU, BROTHER, IF YOU, BEING ONE OF THE BIG THREE… ONE OF THE MAIN AND MOST IMPORTANT GODS, IF YOU CANNOT HOLD YOUR TONGUE, I WILL STICK IT ONTO THE PRONGS OF YOUR TRIDENT AND LET THE HARPIES FEAST OFF OF IT!"

Poseidon glared loathingly at Zeus and sat slowly.

Hades was chuckling darkly.

I had hugged Annabeth to me, as if protecting her, while this whole thing was going on. She had buried her face into my shirt and was clutching my shoulders tightly.

Jolie had knelt down and covered her head in a tornado-drill manner. There might've been a tornado if that argument hadn't stopped.

"Rise, child. Stop being a frightened brat." Zeus summoned Jolie up.

Jolie didn't move.

I let go of Annabeth reluctantly. She nodded to me.

I walked over to Jolie and helped her up. She clutched at my shirt trying to shield herself from Zeus.

"For a daughter of Hera… you have no nerve whatsoever. Must've gotten _that_ from the father."

Zeus' fiery gaze locked onto Hera's.

"She's no child of mine, Husband and Brother. I can assure you of that. A child of mine would see your wrath and scoff." Hera snapped back.

"Why you…"

"Enough."

My father stood and nudged Zeus.

"You said this would be a fair trial. I intend to keep it that way. I'm not going to sit here and hear you two bicker about marital matters. I want to get to the bottom of this."

He looked at me with a distressed and melancholy look. His eyes told me he needed to tell me something.

"Fine." Zeus pouted and sat down hard.

My dad directed us to the podiums.

I took the middle, and Annabeth and Jolie flanked me.

"You may proceed, Brother."

Zeus looked up from his hands, a scowl etched on his face.

"You. Girl."

Jolie looked up hesitantly. She was trying to make herself as small as possible.

"Y-yes… m-my Lord Z-Zeus…?"

"Don't play cute. Tell us exactly what happened the night of your claiming."

"Well… I… I was sitting in the uh… cafeteria… the uh, Pavilion… eating dinner, and I remember getting really angry for some reason… I… I looked at… because she had just returned… and… then the torches went out and a big wind blew and… and I looked up and saw a golden apple floating above my head."

"Golden Apple! Sound familiar, Hera?"

"All my golden apples have remained on my tree, _dearest Husband._" Hera sneered.

"That's all?"

"Yes, m-my Lord."

"Can we get an opinion from everyone?" Zeus barked.

"Wait!" I called.

Zeus looked at me as if I had just poked a pin into his face.

"What is it, Percy?" My father urged me gently.

"Well, Annabeth and I have reason… and we think, fairly good reason as to why Hera cannot possibly be the mother of Jolie."

This sparked everyone's attention. Especially Hera's.

"And that would be…?" Zeus asked annoyed.

"You see, My Lord," Annabeth started. "With my knowledge of Greek Mythology, I've come to understand that if any symbol would represent Hera, it would be a peacock, not an apple. Various stories point to that reasoning, and you can even find it as a symbol in many textbooks. Second of all, it is not in Hera's character to betray her husband, because of what her title as a goddess entails. It is near impossible for her to "cheat" since she is the goddess of "loyal marriage."

"And… I've been having these… these dreams, Zeus, you see, there's a woman in them, a woman I am sure is causing all of these problems, like Chiron's disappearance, the Hades' cabin burning down… everything. And it is not Hera. In fact, it is someone that I have never been in contact with before. It couldn't have been Hera disguising herself either. Her aura is too obvious."

We looked around.

The gods looked… almost amazed.

Zeus, however, looked even more pissed off.

"So, we are to take myths and dreams as our basis of evidence? Very well, Hera. Walk free. I think NOT!"

Zeus stood up.

So did my father.

"Zeus! Brother! Get a hold of yourself. It's quite possible that you are mistaken."

Thunder rolled.

"You dare convict me of being mistaken?"

"I do, Brother. For the sake of all the gods here, and for your sake, I do."

"What do you propose then, _Brother?"_

"Zeus." I called.

Zeus looked at me.

"_What?"_

"I… I call for a quest. A quest to prove Hera, Queen of the gods, your wife and sister, innocent. I bet my life on the fact that she's innocent."

"A quest? What will that prove?" Zeus jeered.

I looked at Annabeth.

"There's been a prophecy… Lord Zeus. I have no doubt the Oracle will tell us where to go if we ask."

I silently thanked Annabeth.

After all, I just proposed a quest… and I didn't even know where to begin.

Zeus sat down angrily.

My father looked at him, then at me, then back to Zeus.

He jammed his trident to the ground three times.

"Here this, gods and goddesses. I, Poseidon, god of the seas, grant a quest to these three witnesses at this trial. They have one week to prove the innocence they believe of Hera. They must return to this very spot by midnight next Tuesday, or Hera will be forfeit to the consequences of this crime."

The gods and goddesses nodded in agreement and spoke amongst themselves. Hera glared at Poseidon. But when she looked at me and Annabeth, I could almost see the "Thank you" in her eyes. Her gaze flicked to Jolie and a look of utter disgust graced her otherwise flawless face.

Zeus stormed, literally, out of the room, throwing his hands in the air. The thunder rolled even louder and a lightning bolt shot across the sky. I was sure down below was getting it pretty badly.

I helped Annabeth off the podium, and then Jolie. As we were walking away, my father called to me.

"Percy."

I clenched my teeth and turned around.

"What?"

"Please… forgive me for my behavior the other night. I… I wasn't really concerned about my shrimp. In fact, I wanted very much to hear what was on your mind. But you see, at that moment, I had received a secret summons from Zeus about this whole matter. I could not tell anyone. I'm sorry, Son. I didn't want to leave you like I did. I hope you can forgive me."

I thought for a moment.

He had wanted to hear me out. He did care.

I was quick to assume and judge.

My dad is a god. I can't expect him to be like other dads. It would be selfish of me.

"I… I can. I forgive you, Dad."

Poseidon looked intensely relieved.

"Now, Percy. I trust your judgment on this matter. If you believe Hera is innocent, so do I. You have proven to me numerous times and various times again that I have no reason to doubt you. Now go. Time is running out as we speak."

I turned to go.

"Wait…"

"Yes, Percy?"

"Is that… is that why Hades disappeared all of a sudden as well? This secret summons?"

"Yeah, twit. What, you think the god of the Underworld could just… disappear without a trace? Not likely."

Greaseball. I wasn't even talking to him.

Whatever.

My father glared at Hades.

"Yes, Son. That is the reason. Now, good luck. I hope you prosper."

"Me, too. And… thanks."

"For what? I deserve no thanks."

"You do. You're a god, I understand that. But… you've always been able to hold out for me. I've… I _have_ always been able to depend on you."

Poseidon smiled. There was a twinkle in his eye.

"The feeling is mutual, Son."

I smiled in return, and then turned to catch up with Annabeth and Jolie, already at the doors leading down.

As we exited the Empire State Building, it wasn't hard to locate the Strawberry Produce truck with Argus driving.

We all climbed into the backseat, and we began driving back to Camp.

Annabeth had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I had been looking out the window at the bleak grey and wet atmosphere.

I had been thinking about my dad. And my mom, for that matter.

It had been harsh of me to instantly dismiss them as people I could count on. I knew I could.

I had never been so angry in my life. It was weird to think I had thought all of that stuff at all.

I hadn't lied about one thing, though.

Annabeth keeps me together. That had been the only truth that night.

I looked down at her face, so relaxed in slumber. I kissed her hair and placed my head on top of hers.

I could feel a burning on the side of my face. I peeked over and Jolie was glaring daggers at us. Her eyes were a molten gold.

I lifted my head instantly.

Too quickly, though, because I bonked Annabeth on the head and she woke up.

"Huh?"

"It's alright, Annabeth… Jolie… what's wrong? Your eyes…"

"What about her eyes, Percy?"

I looked back at Jolie. Her eyes were back to normal.

Annabeth was looking at me worriedly.

"I… didn't you…? Nothing. Everything's fine."

I glanced back over at Jolie, and she looked at me with a confused expression… and a hurt one.

I was silent the rest of the way home.

By the time we got back, it was already late afternoon.

Annabeth was tired, and so, with a kiss on the lips, she was off to her cabin, and I was off to mine.

And Jolie was off to hers.

I opened the door of my cabin and flopped down onto my bed.

I was exhausted.

And I had a lot to think about.

Sometime soon I had to contact Rachel. Only she could tell us where to begin our journey. All we had to do was ask the Oracle, and that would point us in the right direction with more riddles and shit.

I exhaled loudly and got up.

I was hungry. Dinner was supposed to be here soon. The nymphs were still bringing meals to our doors since the storms were so bad.

Seriously, you think Zeus could give it a break since the trial was on hiatus and we were trying to _help_ him and Hera. _Di immortales_. Gods were so stubborn. Sometimes, I seriously hated them.

A knock on my door.

Yay, food.

I eagerly opened the door.

It wasn't what I expected.

I thought Jolie had returned to her cabin.

But she had followed me… after…

After changing her clothes.

The rain didn't help either.

She was wearing a sky blue tank top, soaked all the way through.

Her white shorts barely covered her… er… upper legs.

"J-Jolie…"

But the most scary part of this situation, was that her eyes were, truly, unmistakably… _gold._

I backed up.

Jolie had a disconcerting smile on her face.

She had put her hair up in a messy bun, and some strands of her bangs hung down her face.

Jolie stepped into my cabin and slammed the door.

"Perseus…"

I swallowed. Hard.

"Jolie… you need help. There is something _seriously_ wrong right now…"

"The only thing that is wrong, Perseus, is that our mouths aren't attached."

She walked closer to me.

I stopped and put my hands on her shoulders.

"Seriously, you gotta stop, Jolie. This isn't you. Something's very off… we need to…"

With unnatural strength, Jolie pushed me all the way across my room, my feet sliding on the floor, where I landed on my back on my mattress.

Then, with superhuman speed, she was on top of me, straddling my torso, squeezing my obliques so I couldn't move.

I tried to put my hands up to block her advance, but her hands grasped my wrists and pinned me down.

I wriggled, hopefully free, but to no avail.

"Why fight against the inevitable, Perseus? I want you. And I _know_ you want me."

With that she stuck her tongue down my throat.

She was nipping and licking my mouth, clamping either my upper or lower lip in between her lips.

I whimpered. I actually whimpered.

The door opened.

Jolie instantly flipped so I was on top.

She stopped kissing me and grinned evilly.

A voice filled my head.

"_You will lose everything."_

"…Percy I was thinking we should go talk to Rach…" whatever was about to be said died down instantly.

I heard a sob.

I quickly looked at Annabeth, then back at Jolie.

"Annabeth! Thank the gods! I just came in to thank Percy for today… and… and he… get him OFF of me!" she began to cry. Very convincingly.

It sounded way too truthful. Jolie… or whatever she was… was a really good liar.

And Annabeth believed her.

"Annabeth! It's not like that at all! You know me! I…"

"I hate you, Perseus Jackson." She said in a deadly monotone.

"ANNABETH! WAIT!"

I clambered off of Jolie and ran out the door.

The rain was coming down as a drizzle. Zeus must've calmed down slightly. Or had been given a sleeping pill.

Annabeth was running about twenty feet ahead.

I followed.

"ANNABETH!"

She was running to the beach.

By the time I got there, Annabeth was sobbing while sitting on a log and shivering violently.

I fell to my knees in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"Annabeth! That's… not what… happened… Jolie… wasn't herself… she was… possessed… or something… her eyes… she… took advantage of me…"

Annabeth looked up. Her face was identical to that of her mother's earlier today.

"You expect me to believe that? I know what I saw! I just don't understand it! Apparently there _was _some trouble with Jolie while I was gone! I see how she looks at you. I just… how _could _you Percy? How _DARE_ you…?"

Then she slapped me across the face.

I clutched my abused cheek.

"I loved you, Percy. I thought we were for real."

"We ARE for real, Annabeth! Just listen! You have to hear…"

"STOP LYING, PERCY! Don't you think I've heard enough already? My mother was right… she was right… I can't believe we spent all that time together… and it was all a lie. You threw everything away, Jackson. I hate you. I HATE YOU."

"I LOVE YOU, ANNABETH! _YOU!_ How could you possibly think I would do anything like that? I didn't… I tried to refuse! She was too strong! You didn't see… it was like…"

"A girl beat you down and forced you to make out with her? That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard."

Annabeth's eyes were cold. Like her mother's.

"We're done, Jackson. I don't ever want you near me again."

She started to get up.

I wrapped my arms around her legs, hugging them.

My eyes stung with tears.

"Please. Don't do this. I love you too much, Annabeth."

"Can't say I feel the same, Jackson." Her words pierced through my heart like an icicle.

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

"Please… Annabeth… let me…"

She pushed me off her legs, roughly.

I fell to the ground, pathetically, like a discarded rag. I sat, staring at my hands, now dirty from wet sand, tears splattering on my flesh.

Annabeth stepped past me and began to walk away.

I scrambled up and ran to her.

I grabbed her shoulders and brought her lips to mine.

I kissed her, moving my lips against her familiar, yet foreign mouth. She wasn't kissing back. I pulled her to me. Grasping her arms as if my life depended on it. Annabeth stayed still, like one of Auntie Em's statues in her emporium.

Then she shoved me away and punched my nose.

"Don't. Touch. Me. Ever. Again."

Each word pounded my heart further into the grave it had dug for itself.

I held my nose and sank to the sand.

And Annabeth left.

It started to rain harder.

I got up clumsily, still holding my nose and checking to see if it was bleeding.

I walked to the water, and went straight in.

When I was up to my waist, I stopped and just stared at the lightning flickering across the sky.

Then I screamed… covered my head with my arms…

…and the waves blackened and heightened…

crashing with sounds that rivaled the thunder.

_Trust is lost…_

**A.N.**

Longest chapter yet, I believe!

And so concludes this story.

Totally joking.

Weird/funny fact: as I was writing the trial scene, there was a huge thunderstorm… and really loud thunder.

Apparently Zeus didn't like what I had to write.

But I hope all of you do!

R&R if you want to!

Until the next chapter, Lovies!

Lily


	9. Of Quests and Cooperation

"_PERRRRRCY! You gotta help me man! This is not good… this guy is nuts! He's… you can't control him! And Mr. D… he's disabled Mr. D… celestial bronze shackles from head to toe… and… what was that? WHAT WAS THAT? No… please don't… please NOOOOOO!"_

"GROVER!"

A large clap of thunder woke me from my uneasy dream. Nightmare. That's what it was.

Grover was in trouble… he'd been begging for help. He was somewhere dark. This was like that time in Polyphemus' cave… Grover and I still had that link between us… I could still feel it, so he wasn't dead.

Yet.

I had to do something quickly.

But where was he? He hadn't gotten a chance to say.

Then everything came back to me, and the thought of Grover, no matter what peril he was in, left my head in a rush.

I sat up in my tangled covers and dropped my head into my hands.

Dropping my hands into my lap and looking up at my ceiling, I tried to keep my tears at bay.

Annabeth and I were over. She hadn't let me explain myself. She wouldn't believe me anyway. What she saw last night was completely contrary to what I had tried to say. Jolie, or whatever she was last night, had the one-up on me. And the real Jolie wouldn't be a help either.

When I'd gotten back to my cabin last night, I had found Jolie unconscious and sprawled over my bed. I tentatively made my way over to her and gently shook her shoulder. She had not stirred.

I tried again, shaking a little harder, and she jumped up with a jolt and placed her hands in front of her as if defending herself.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I grabbed her hands to keep her at bay.

"Jolie! It's me, it's Percy. You're okay… you're okay."

"Where am I?"

"Uh, in my cabin… don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

She legit looked like she had no idea what had happened in the past 20 minutes.

I dropped her hands.

"Nothing. Just… you should go back to your cabin. We're leaving in the morning after we see Rachel."

She had gotten up without a sound and left quickly muttering to herself, "What am I wearing? Why…"

After she left, I had collapsed onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. I had then gone on a small rampage, ripping my clothes out of the dresser, knocking over chairs and kicking furniture. Tears streamed down my face, and then I had punched my wall. My hand was fine, thanks to my invincibility, but the wall could not say the same. There was a small, softball sized crater in it.

I had fallen into an uneasy sleep, dreams of Annabeth breaking up with me in different ways plaguing my head. Then it had changed to the dream with Grover, and here we are, ladies and gentlemen.

I packed up a backpack with all the necessary equipment I would need. Clothes, food, and weapons.

I left my cabin and made my way over to the Big House. I looked up and saw Rachel and Annabeth talking on the porch.

As I got closer, I saw Annabeth's face, colder than it was last night. Rachel was seated, and had a glass of water in front of her, which she was slurping up eagerly.

Walking up the stairs, I stopped when I got out of the rain.

Annabeth looked at me once. Then turned to look at Rachel again. She bent to pick up her backpack.

"Thanks, Rachel. That was a great help."

Rachel just nodded, still slurping up water from the straw. Had she prophesized again? And I missed it?

Annabeth must have read my face, because she snapped at me.

"Don't be an idiot, Jackson. I wrote it down."

"Uh…"

"Don't talk to me. Oh look, here comes your slut, manwhore."

I could not believe she had just said that to me.

But sure enough, Jolie was running through the rain with a knapsack on her back, trying to maneuver her arms in such a way that it would keep the rain from falling on her. Wasn't working too well.

Panting, she ran up the stairs two at a time and stopped right next to me.

She looked up at me, and as always, I was uneasy with her discolored eyes.

Annabeth glared daggers at us.

Rachel, meanwhile, was just watching us in disbelief. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish. And trust me, I would know. Fish make that expression all the time.

Rachel then shook her head, still looking at us incredulously, then she covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. Without another word, she turned and bolted into the house.

"What's with her?" Jolie asked, hugging my arm to her nervously.

I didn't answer.

"Argus should be here any minute. I'll sit in the front." Annabeth stated shortly.

She marched down the stairs and began her ascent up the hill.

Jolie and I followed slowly.

By the time all of us got up the hill, sure enough, we could see Argus and the van down a ways.

Annabeth made sure to keep at least 20 feet ahead of us.

Jolie was clutching my hand.

"I'm scared, Percy."

"It'll be fine." I mumbled.

I tried to believe myself.

We got into the car, and I heard Annabeth tell something to Argus very quickly. Argus nodded and drove out into the dark grey morning. The only sound we could hear was the pounding of the rain on the roof.

About three hours later, we found ourselves in downtown Manhattan. Argus pulled up by the curb, and we all piled out. Annabeth instantly began walking to the underground train station. We had to jog to keep up with her. The rain still relentlessly poured down on all the unfortunate New Yorkers.

Umbrellas of all colors and sizes bolted past me as I pulled Jolie along to catch up with Annabeth. She had descended the stairs of the station already.

Closely followed by Jolie, I went down the stairs as well and kept a sharp eye out for Annabeth. For a few seconds, I started to fret because I couldn't see her anywhere. But then I saw a blonde head by an ATM machine. She was getting mortal cash for the tickets.

"Annabeth…" I panted.

"Here's your tickets." She all but threw them at me. "Train's this way. We're taking it to the airport in New Jersey. Then we're flying to Minneapolis where we'll rent a car and drive to South Dakota."

"Can I see the…"

She shoved a paper at me.

We walked over to the platform to wait for the train.

It came about 15 minutes later. We showed the clerk our tickets, and then went to our respective car.

Annabeth sat by the window and commenced taking a book out and reading it. It was clear she didn't want anyone near her. I sat down on the opposite side, and all the way down away from the window. Jolie just sat next to me, giving me some space. She took out her I-pod and was pretty much gone after she turned it on. I sat, staring at the crumpled paper in my hands.

The train jolted us as it started. Soon enough, lights were blasting past us. Jolie had fallen asleep right away. Annabeth was still reading her book, pointedly not looking at me.

I smoothed the paper out, and a passage of phrases in Annabeth's writing greeted my eyes.

_First you'll meet a vengeful Queen_

_Bring back what was given, no matter how obscene._

_Into Hills of darkest Black_

_You'll encounter gold and an old attack._

_Here you'll find your missing friends_

_The girl will point you towards the end._

I sat and pondered for a while.

After awhile, I still hadn't come up with any answers.

"Annabeth…?"

"What, Jackson."

"Have… have you figured this out?"

"What did I just tell you? We're going to Minneapolis. From there, South Dakota. The Black Hills, Jackson. They're famous for their gold. Those are the only Hills of Black I can think of that involves gold as well. You haven't heard of Black Hills gold? They sell a lot by Mount Rushmore."

"Oh."

A look came over Annabeth's face, and she smiled a little.

"I've always wanted to go to Mount Rushmore…"

"I know."

Annabeth seemed to realize she was initiating conversation with me, because the scowl returned to her face. My heart froze again when her sunny smile disappeared.

Annabeth returned her gaze to out the window. There was nothing to look at but stone walls and dim lights. Nothing too interesting, hence, she was avoiding me.

The speaker on the intercom announced the conductor.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now approaching the stop for Newark, New Jersey. Please remain seated until the train comes to a complete stop. Then, gather your belongings and make your way out of the left hand exit doors. Thank you for riding with us today."

Annabeth sighed "finally," and looked over at me, a disgusted look etching across her face.

She crossed her arms and legs and stared out the window.

I could feel the train slowing down.

I nudged Jolie to wake her up. She jumped, and her eyes opened instantly.

"Calm down. It's almost time to get off."

"Oh. Thanks."

She unplugged her earphones and stashed them and her I-pod into her bag. She then assumed the same position as Annabeth. I have now dubbed this the "girl waiting impatiently with nothing to do" pose.

We could hear the screeching of the wheels outside as the train slowed to a stop. When it gave us the final jolt, we knew it had stopped, and stood up to get our stuff. Annabeth pushed past us and slid the door open.

"Come on. Our plane leaves in an hour."

All three of us crowded out of our car, and then out of the train. A staircase leading up and back into the regular city was at our left. We climbed the staircase, only to meet a slight drizzle and a blinding bright grey of the sky.

Annabeth took out a map. Reading over her shoulder, I saw that it was an inner city map for Newark.

"Airport's down the next road. Let's go."

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the airport.

The doorman checked our tickets and ushered us to the baggage check line.

The security guard regarded us suspiciously.

I was first in line, so I approached the checkpoint, set my backpack on the rolly bars so it could go through the X-ray thing.

"Only a backpack today, son?"

The guard was chewing gum rather loudly.

"Uh, yes sir."

"Everything seems to be in order with your backpack. Where ya off to?" He asked, still looking at the screen where I could see an image of a transparent backpack with my stuff in it.

"Uh, Minneapolis."

"Vacation?"

"Sure."

"Who are these ladies with you?"

"Just my friends."

He ushered me to the checkpoint arch.

I walked through successfully, with no beeping. I swear, you think they'll find something wrong, even though you know you don't have anything. It's nerve wracking. I hate it.

"Wait a second. What's in your pocket, there, Jackson?"

My hand instinctively clutched Riptide in my pocket.

"Just a… pen…" My stomach dropped. He'd said my last name.

Shit.

I turned to the guard. His original face had melted off, and he had grown from his original 6'7 stature to 15 feet. His lower limbs were like serpents, and his feet looked like reptilian scales.

"ANNABETH! JOLIE! COME BEHIND ME!" I yelled while drawing Riptide.

Annabeth and Jolie ran over to me, Annabeth whipping out her dagger. Instead of going behind me, she stayed by my side.

"Annabeth! You and Jolie get to the plane! I'll hold him off!"

"No, Percy! You'll die!" screamed Jolie. Oh, if she only knew. If she only knew.

"I won't! Don't worry! Annabeth… go… I have the curse… I won't die… and…I can't… I can't lose you."

Whatever Annabeth was about to yell in my face died. Her eyes widened a bit and her dagger lowered.

"GO!" I pleaded.

She turned around, unsure, and pulled Jolie along with her. She looked back a few times.

I faced the ugly butt face in front of me.

I was calm now, because I couldn't get hurt. This monster didn't know where my weak point was, let alone didn't even know I had the Curse of Achilles. This should be a piece of cake. A piece of _blue_ cake.

I looked up into his face.

"And who the hell are you, Ugly?"

He growled at me.

"I am Enceladus! Son of Mother Gaia and fertilized by the blood of the castrated Kronos!"

"Gross. So you're made up of mud and penis juice, then?"

This pissed him off.

"Doesn't look like you quite got the looks in the family, if you know what I mean. I've seen Harpies that look better than you, and that's saying something. I think even Polyphemus would shriek at your face and _he _is the epitome of ugly, get my drift?"

That's when he dove at me.

I ran through security, grabbing my backpack and throwing it onto my back.

To everyone in the airport atrium, it looked like a security guard was chasing me.

Because of this, people didn't interfere.

Bless the mist, it saves so many people from being traumatized for life.

I ran as fast as I could. Enceladus was so big, for every running lunge he took, I had like, 8.

Needless to say, he was catching up. Quickly.

I took a left the first opportunity I could get. In front of me, I could see the food court. Didn't want to ruin people's appetites by gorging a monster and having his insides pour out over their burgers and chicken strips. Not the best flavoring.

Planning everything out in my head, I turned around abruptly and began running the other way. This caught Enceladus off guard (lolrofl, he was a guard… get it? No? Anyway.) and he slipped while he tried to make the abrupt turn.

Running towards the checkpoint once again, I ran out and pushed my way through the baggage check. There were a lot of complaints and shouts, but I dove over the desks, where they were weighing suitcases, and dove through the tunnel where they send baggage to get sorted and boarded.

There was a lot of machinery, busy sorting and dropping assorted luggage to the correct areas. The transports were little moving pathways. I jumped up onto one of them and looked toward where I had entered.

I was so busy waiting for him to come in the way I did, that I didn't see him come up from behind me.

His shadow spilled out onto mine, and I turned around. One of his huge, snaky limbs reached back and swung at me, knocking me off my feet and onto a pile of suitcases. He jumped and meant to land right on top of me, but I rolled out of the way. He body slammed a Hello Kitty backpack. Poor Hello Kitty.

Growling and grunting, he pushed himself up and continued his pursuit of me. I jumped from suitcase mound to suitcase mound. He just plowed through them. Some people's luggage would not be arriving in Honolulu. I guessed Timbuktu.

I had to find a flat area to assume my stance.

There was an out of order transport path about 30 feet away from where I was standing. I made my way over there, apologizing to the upset baggage I caused.

Enceladus wasted no time in pursuing me.

When I got to the flat area, I purposefully tripped and slid on my stomach a few feet forward. I heard Enceladus laugh, and approach me slowly. I let go of Riptide and edged my hand a few inches away from it, to look like I was unarmed.

Enceladus believed me.

Trust me, when you hang out with Annabeth long enough, you catch on to some scheming ideas. Let me tell you.

"Well, well, Percy Jackson. Tell me, how does someone as prestigious as you, defeating father Kronos and all, trip yourself and die at the hands of Enceladus?"

I heard him approaching closer. He was about ten feet away. I exaggerated trying to lift myself up on my arms, and collapsing again.

Enceladus laughed.

"You will die now, Jackson."

He roared and his limbs shot forward to constrict my body and strangle me. I grabbed Riptide, rolled onto my back, and slashed off all the limbs that came at me.

Enceladus shrieked in agony, which sounded a lot like metal grinding against another piece of metal.

I resisted holding my ears, and approached the bleeding torso in front of me.

"You will die now, you son of a dick."

Enceladus' eyes widened as I plunged my sword into his face. His scream filled my ears as he turned to dust and disappeared before my very eyes.

I put Riptide away and contemplated as to how to get out of here.

I looked around.

Then an idea sprang to mind.

I went searching for the baggage truck labeled for Minneapolis, Minnesota via flight 028. I moved some baggage, and tucked myself into the truck, then hid myself with the replaced baggage.

Not long after, a guy came in and started the truck.

After a ten minute drive, we were outside by the loading dock of the plane.

As the workers were occupied loading luggage onto the ramp that brought them to the plane, I jumped out and ran out of the lot.

I found myself at the entrance of the airport once again.

After catching my breath, I calmly entered the airport and went through all the checkpoints once again.

After the final checkpoint, I entered the atrium once again. My ticket said we would be loading the plane at Gate E, so I made my way over there.

I saw a blonde head and a brown head waiting anxiously, looking in the other direction.

"Annabeth. Jolie."

They turned around.

Before Annabeth's frown could cover her face, I saw the faintest glimpse of relief.

Jolie ran over to me and hugged me. I imagined it the way Enceladus would have constricted me.

"Percy! Thank the gods, you're okay! Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need anything…?"

"I'm fine, Jolie. I told you I would be."

"What was that? How did no one see him? He was HUGE! How…"

I gently pushed out of her embrace and approached Annabeth.

"I should have stayed to help you, you idiot. It would have been over a lot sooner. They've already started loading the plane. You were almost too late. You stupid ass."

"I'm glad you're okay, Annabeth." I reached out and stroked her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered slightly, but then she pulled back roughly and slapped my hand away.

"Whatever, Jackson. Let's just get on the plane." And with that, she turned and went to give her ticket to the clerk.

The plane ride to Minneapolis took about two and a half hours. Not long enough for a meal, but enough to get peanuts and a soda.

Annabeth had Jolie sit in between us, with her once again at the window seat.

Oh, and just so you know, ever since I saved Olympus, Zeus has promised to leave me alone if I fly on planes. It was risky to test his promise out now, since he was so angry, but we didn't really have a choice in the matter. Plus, it helped that Thalia said she's disown herself if Zeus did anything to me. Zeus always did have a soft spot for her. So to make a long story short, I was safe riding in an airplane.

The light dinged on, announcing that we needed to fasten our seatbelts.

"Attention, we will be landing in St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota in 15 minutes. Current weather is 62 degrees Fahrenheit, mostly cloudy and slight drizzling. Current time is 5:16 P.M. central time. Please lift up and secure your tables and store all belongings under your seat. Thank you."

Sure enough, 15 minutes later, we were getting off the plane.

After getting something to eat in the airport, we left and caught an airport taxi that took us to St. Paul. It took us awhile to realize that St. Paul was miles away from Minneapolis, but they were close enough to be called the "Twin Cities." Annabeth said we had a hotel in St. Paul by the Mississippi River, so we had to go there instead of Minneapolis. Even Annabeth had it confused. Weird Minnesota.

We got to the Radisson hotel and checked in. Our window had a view of the river. It was about 8:45, so the sun had already started to go down, leaving a brilliant orange reflection on the river.

Annabeth was taking a shower, and Jolie had gotten in her pajamas and fallen asleep. There were only two beds in the room and a couch. I would be taking the couch. At least I had my own TV…and the couch was a fold out bed…

After I took my shower, I crawled into my bed. The TV was still on, but on mute. First day down. Six more to prove Hera innocent.

I was just about to fall asleep when I heard some commotion outside my window.

I got up quietly and peeked behind the curtain.

In the moonlight, almost imperceptible, was a longboat. Not a modern longboat.

It looked… foreign. And indigenous.

It had colorful feathers and beads as ornamentation… and it contained four women. Three were rowing. One had on a lavish headdress and was wearing some sort of skirt and bikini top assortment. They were also a really dark tan.

The woman was standing at the bough of the boat, just staring out in front.

There were other people out boating too… but didn't notice them.

Oh man.

We know what that means.

The boat docked and the women got off the boat. Still, no one paid them any heed.

Then they left my sight.

I didn't know what was going on, but I couldn't see them anymore. Apparently there wasn't much to worry about.

I climbed back into bed.

Then there was a knock on the window.

**AN**

**Hola readers! Like I said… I would be back at the beginning of October! A lot of the stuff I had to do, has indeed been done, and now I should have more time to write. This makes me VERY happy :D**

**Read and Review if you want to.**

**Lily**


	10. Of Kings and Queens part I

I froze.

My stomach felt like it had hardened into diamond.

Apparently there _was_ something to worry about.

I slowly turned my head towards the window.

I could see the shadowy outline of a tall figure through the curtains.

It moved around a little bit, then I heard clicking.

_It was picking the locks on the windows._

I got out of bed slowly and opened the door blocking the living area of the hotel and the bedroom. I had to warn Annabeth and Jolie.

The door creaked open and I snuck in on my tip toes.

"Annabeth." I whispered.

Nothing. They were fast asleep.

"Annabeth!" I said a little louder.

Still nothing.

I crept over to the left hand bed, the bed Jolie hadn't fallen asleep on.

As I placed my hands on the hotel bed to try and find her body to shake her, my hands found nothing.

Nothing whatsoever.

"Annabeth!"

I looked around frantically, but it was so dark I wouldn't know anything until I turned a light on.

What was that smell?

It smelled… like Annabeth… her shampoo…

I blacked out.

I woke up to a chipmunk nibbling on the buttons of my pajama pants. I tried to swat it away, but my hands were tied with ropes on a large, upright wooden platform.

I looked around.

We were in a small forest opening. The trees around the area had small, leafy houses in them, barely perceptible.

Where was I?

More importantly, where were Annabeth and Jolie?

There were some stone carvings of strong, athletic looking women. One of the carvings in particular looked the most regal. It was carved beautifully.

What in Hades…

"Percy!"

I looked around.

"UP HERE!"

I looked up.

Hanging above me from a thick branch of one of the trees, in a wooden cage, were Annabeth and Jolie.

I said something brave, like, "How did you guys get up there?"

"Don't be stupid, Jackson," Annabeth snapped.

The sun was barely up, and it was a bit chilly.

Must remember to sleep with a shirt.

Yup. Next time I plan on getting captured in the middle of the night.

"Do you still have your knife, Annabeth?" I shouted up to her.

"Of course not! Do you think our capturers would allow us to be armed? Seriously, Jackson. Think for once."

_I love you, too._

I struggled with my bindings a little, but to no avail.

I heard chanting.

I craned my neck to try and see behind me, but the platform made it impossible. My feet were bound to the wood as well, and I was a few feet above the ground. My arms were bound above me, and my feet were spread a little bit apart. It looked like I was in mid jumping jack.

The chanting got louder still.

They were all woman voices.

I could hear the accompaniment of feet rustling through the leaves as well.

Sweat beaded on my brow.

Suddenly, about 50 women, all in indigenous clothing which consisted of being brassieres and skirts jogged into the small opening. The leader of them had biceps that rivaled mine. She looked extremely intimidating. She had a gold ring around her head.

She stopped jogging abruptly and held up her hand and shouted something I couldn't understand.

All the women behind her stopped, put their feet shoulder width apart and crossed their arms. They were in perfect formation.

The leader said something else to them, tilted her head in my direction, and then walked toward me menacingly.

I gulped.

The woman took out her spear.

I struggled against my bindings, and I heard Jolie shriek.

She approached me and was about 3 feet away from me. Even being tied to the platform a little higher up, she was face to face with me. She had to have been over six feet tall. Big woman.

Help.

She lifted her spear, aimed it at my bellybutton…_which was directly opposite my "Achilles Heel…"_ if she speared me through there… I was done.

Shit.

I clenched my jaw and squeezed my eyes shut.

I heard the spear dig into…

The ground.

I opened one eye and looked at her apprehensively.

She had no emotion on her face.

I opened my other eye.

We looked at each other for a few minutes.

Then…

She started laughing.

And all the women behind her started laughing.

I didn't see what was so funny.

She stepped a bit closer to me… about 2 inches from my face.

"Be you Percy Jackson?"

My eyes widened.

"Erm…"

"Answer de question."

I swallowed.

"Yes?"

"Be you not sure?" she smirked and crossed her arms.

"Uh, last time I checked I was Percy Jackson."

"Good enough."

For what?

She took her spear out of the ground again, and a droplet of sweat dripped down the side of my face.

She watched it.

Then lifted her spear again, turned quickly, and threw it so it landed square on a knot in a tree.

I gulped again.

She brushed her hands off and looked back at me.

"You see our skill, Percy Jackson."

It wasn't a question.

"Uh, yes. Yes I do. Very good. You must be a pro at darts…"

A questioning look graced her face. She had markings on her face under her eyes, around them, and on her forehead and cheeks.

"I am Hippolyta II."

I didn't know what else to say, so I thought I'd introduce myself too.

"Er, I'm Percy."

"I am Queen of de Amazons." She gestured to the women behind her.

I nodded my head in greeting.

"Why be you here?"

"Uh, well… wait. The Amazons? Like that all women warrior tribe?"

Hippolyta rolled her eyes.

"Yes. Dat one."

"Er… right. The Amazons live by the Mississippi River."

"Is de Mighty Mississippi not de longest river in de United States?"

It all started to make sense now. You see, things in Greek Mythology moved with Western culture… I suppose the Mississippi was the equivalent to… well… the Amazon I guess.

"Well, my friends and I are on a quest… and… how did you capture us?"

"Sleeping powder."

Oh. I guess that's how I blacked out.

"It makes you fall asleep and dream of de ting you want de most in dis world."

Hence, me smelling Annabeth's shampoo.

No, I didn't want her shampoo. You probably get my meaning though.

"What do you want with us?"

"Let me tell you a story, Percy Jackson. My ancestor, de Great Hippolyta, was a mighty queen. Greatest Queen of de Amazons in all our history. I have yet to live up to her. But you see, it is difficult to live up to her when I do not have something of hers."

She stepped closer and caressed my cheek. I shivered. Her hands were cold.

She brought her hand from my cheek and ran it down my neck to my shoulder. From there, she brushed it over my chest and brought it down over my abs. It stopped at the lip of my pants, where she fiddled with the trail of hair under my bellybutton.

I was rather uncomfortable.

"Dis is where you come in, Percy Jackson. You see, Hippolyta had a golden girdle. Gift from her father, Ares…"

Perfect. Ares.

"…it was a magical girdle. But it was given to Admeta… by way of Hercules. You see, Hippolyta had a slight crush on Hercules, and when he asked for her girdle, she gave it to him. So love struck she was. She regretted dat move. She was killed. Now de magical girdle no longer exists. But I still need a golden girdle to be truly queen of my people. You must find one for me, Percy Jackson, so dat I may appeal to Ares to bestow his power on it once more. He tells me I may have dat power if I can find a golden girdle. You don't just find dose tings at Victoria's Secret, you know."

Her hand reran its course up to my cheek.

"We do not see many men dis close often. You are a special treat for us. So handsome."

I heard Annabeth growl lowly.

Her fingers pinched my cheeks together and she wiggled my face side to side.

"If you want your friends to be released from captivity, I suggest you find a golden girdle for me, handsome Percy."

I looked up at Annabeth and Jolie in their cage. Jolie's eyes were wide in fear. Annabeth had a resolved expression on her face. She looked at me with narrowed eyes, and just nodded.

I looked down to face Hippolyta again.

"I… I'll find a golden girdle for you."

"Good decision, Percy Jackson. But before you go… my women would like to… have some fun with you…"

Some of the women in the crowd giggled.

One screamed "I just want to _touch _his face! Can I?"

I squirmed.

"Uh… well, you see… um… no thanks. You're all… uh, gorgeous, but… I…"

"HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND ALREADY."

Hippolyta glared up at Annabeth.

"Is dat so, blonde haired one?"

_Yes, Annabeth. I'm curious. Is it so that I still have a girlfriend?_

My heart swelled with unreasonable hope.

Annabeth didn't answer for a few seconds.

"Why would I lie about that?"

My heart exploded.

"Why _would_ you lie about dat?"

More silence.

"His girlfriend is here in the cage with me. Her name is Jolie."

My heart stayed in pieces from its aforementioned explosion.

Hippolyta nodded a few of her women over.

One leapt onto the tree and climbed up to the cage with unnatural ease. She had keys, and she unlocked the door, pulled Jolie out and dropped her down into the arms of the other woman. It was like, a thirty foot drop.

Jolie screamed all the way down, and stopped instantly once the Amazonian woman had her.

She placed Jolie on her feet.

The other woman that had climbed up the tree, jumped down from the branch and rolled as she hit the ground. No injuries.

"If dis girl is Percy's girlfriend, Blonde, den I will have her prove it to us all. And to _you._"

Annabeth scoffed and clucked her tongue.

I looked up at her.

She looked back down at me, eyes flaming behind their ashen grey.

I shook my head imperceptibly and gave her a questioning look.

I looked back at Hippolyta, who was leading Jolie over to me.

"Go on, girl. Prove you are Percy's love."

Jolie was looking at the ground intently.

Hippolyta pushed her closer to me, and Jolie stumbled a bit. She caught herself.

"Someone cut him down."

A woman took out four throwing knives.

_Oh…my… gods… she wasn't going to…_

She threw one, then two, then three and four.

They landed with a _thud thud thud thud_ in all the places where the ropes were binding me.

A few seconds later, I slid to the ground in a heap.

"Um, thanks." I mumbled, standing up.

"What are you waiting for?" Hippolyta asked.

Jolie looked up at me nervously.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

I glanced back at Annabeth with a pleading look.

She had crossed her arms across her chest and was glaring at us, waiting.

Jolie placed her hands on my shoulders and pressed her body flush against mine.

My breath caught in my throat and I stumbled a bit backwards.

Her eyes were looking into each of my eyes in turn. She moistened her lips.

Then she leaned in.

Her lips were a fraction of a millimeter away from mine when I pushed her away.

"I'm sorry. I can't. She's not my girlfriend. I don't feel that way about her. I… I love someone else. Always have."

I looked back at Annabeth.

Her arms slowly dropped to her lap.

I looked back at Jolie.

"I'm sorry, Jolie. We're friends. I care about you that way."

"I've always known that, Percy. I was just doing what I thought I was supposed to."

I grabbed her hand in mine and pulled her into a hug.

She started to cry.

I rubbed her back soothingly.

After a few seconds, we stopped embracing, and Jolie stepped away from me.

"You need to go, Percy."

Right.

"I uh… can I get like a, uh, change of clothes? That'd be great."

"Get de boy's bag."

My backpack was thrown at me. I caught it.

I went behind a tree and changed.

Some of the women had snuck near enough where they could watch.

I could hear their giggles. I looked around, but I couldn't see them. Only hear them.

I slipped my shirt over my head and I heard loud gasps and giggles.

Pulling it down, I looked around again. Still nothing.

I hoisted my backpack over my shoulder and came out from behind the tree.

"My warriors have informed me dat your abdominal muscles are quite well defined. Dey enjoyed watching dem ripple as you put your shirt on."

So that's what that was about.

Whatever.

"Can I have my sword?"

"Sword?"

"My pen. Did you take my pen?"

"Oh! Dis?" she held out Riptide.

"Yes. Dat. I mean, that."

"No. You may not."

She threw it far into the woods.

Mistake.

I waited for a few seconds.

Sure enough, Riptide appeared in my pocket.

I took it out, and brandished the sword.

Hippolyta's eyes widened.

"Thanks. I appreciate it." I grinned at her.

Also in my pants pocket was Rachel's prophecy that Annabeth had written down. I knew where I had to go.

The Black Hills.

**AN**

What a treat! Two posts in three days!

Chapter 10, as it turns out, would've been BLOODY LONG, like… a billion words by itself, so I cut it into two parts. I don't know. It would have been long, and taken me forever to finish and post it.

I'm not done with part 2 yet, but I'll try to get it finished and posted ASAP.

Read and Review if it is to your heart's desire!

Until the next chapter, my Lovies!

_**Lily**_

P.S.

I appreciate all your reviews so far. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :D


	11. Of Kings and Queens part II

I was cruisin'.

Yep. That's what I call it when you rent a 2007 Mazda3.

Blue of course.

I had the windows cracked open a bit and could smell the blatant _nothingness_ that was western Minnesota.

Seriously. Woods, woods, fields, trees, then more woods.

It was the COMPLETE opposite of New York, which was buildings, people, stores, trash, people, skyscrapers, and

OOH! I saw a squirrel! It like, leapt from that tree branch to the branch of another tree and… and…

Stupid ADHD.

Anyway.

I had been driving since 9 this morning. Ever since I got away from the Amazons. I had made my way out of the woods by the Mississippi River, got back into our hotel room, showered, and _officially_ checked out.

I was correct in assuming Hippolyta had not done so.

$400 to _not _spend a comfortable night in a room.

But what could I do?

"_Er, yes, I shouldn't have to pay this sum because my friends and I were kidnapped by Amazons and we didn't really sleep in our room at all, actually. Freeby, maybe? Thanks."_

Things didn't work out that way usually.

So here I was now. Loudly slurping at a Burger King Diet Coke (Mr. D would be so proud.) And picking off the last of my fries.

Nothing out of the ordinary had happened so far, and I was hoping to keep it that way.

By 1 in the afternoon I had made it clear across Minnesota and had ventured across the border to South Dakota. I was hoping to get to the Black Hills by 5 this evening so I could find a hotel, then take a look around. I was making pretty good time so far.

Plus… I wanted to be able to get a picture of Mount Rushmore at night for Annabeth. It's something she'd been dying to see for the longest time. She told me about a similar idea she wanted to do for Olympus for the Big Three… something along the lines of their heads being carved into rock. Something like that. But she wanted to see Mount Rushmore first. I wish she could've come. It would have made her so happy. And I… well, maybe I could have explained myself better without Jolie.

But they were still caged up by the Mississippi. Probably tearing each other's eyes out.

After awhile I made it to a gas station. I was almost empty… tank wise and stomach wise, so I decided to pull in and get fuel. For my car and me. Yeah.

I pulled in next to a fuel station and got out of the car taking my keys with me. I'd get gas, pay inside, and get snack food.

Seriously. The price of gas these days. $2.79 a gallon. For real.

My total came to $25.67. I made my way inside the station and went to the snack aisle right away.

Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos… other –itos… Random packages of candy… I didn't know what I wanted.

Whatever.

I grabbed a few packages of Sour Patch Kids, and a can of Pringles. That would tide me over until I got to the hotel. At least I hoped it would.

Grabbing a Pepsi from the cooler, I made my way to the register so I could pay for my gas and my treats.

Nothing eventful. I took out two twenties, got some change back, and left.

I drove for another three and a half hours before I started seeing signs for hotels near Mount Rushmore. Holiday Inns, Motel 8s… all that good stuff.

I finally pulled into a Hampton Inn. I liked those. They're comfy. And they have good breakfasts.

I parked my car and grabbed my backpack.

After checking in, I decided I would take a bit of a nap. It was around 6:00, but I was exhausted. It's amazing how sitting in a car all day can make you really tired. I'll never understand the physics of that at all.

I woke up around 7:30. I wasn't really hungry, but I ate the rest of my Pringles and a pack of Sour Patch Kids and finished off my drink.

I was going to Mount Rushmore so I could take a picture after they lit it all up. Even if Annabeth and I never got back together, I still wanted her to see what she's always wanted to. Maybe we could still be friends… maybe.

I grabbed my wallet, camera and hotel key card. Riptide was always in my pocket, so I was set to go.

The drive to Mount Rushmore only took about 30 minutes. Soon enough, I was driving up to the park entrance and paying the fee for the tickets. Cool… they were year round… I could come again if I wanted to.

I parked in the overcrowded parking ramps and walked towards the entrance.

The path to the mountains was amazing. They had all these stone pillars that were dedicated to each of the 50 states. Each pillar had a state name carved on it, and the year it joined the United States. At the top of each pillar, there was each state's flag. I went to find New York, and took a picture of it.

I came out into a large opening, and right in front of me, staring me down, were four, giant, stone faces of dead presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln.

All demigods.

Something not a lot of other demigods knew. Many of the famous people and historical figures were demigods.

George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson were sons of Athena. Theodore Roosevelt was a son of Demeter. State Parks and all that jazz.

They had just lit it, and it looked amazing. The lights made the faces glow out of the mountainside. I couldn't believe that a bunch of people had actually carved into a _mountain_… and the faces were so detailed… It was just… wow.

I took a few pictures from different angles. They actually turned out really well.

"Wow…" I breathed… still gazing amazedly at the mountain.

"Want to get closer?"

I looked to my right. An older man with a white beard and twinkling eyes stood next to me. He was wearing a golden yellow sweatshirt that displayed his nametag, a yellow stocking cap that covered his entire head, and a pair of slacks.

"Excuse me?" I asked him.

"I'm a park official here. Every day, I pick a random person to get a personal tour and a closer look. We actually take a capsule elevator up the mountain. It's a great experience. What do you say, young man?"

That would be awesome. I could take better pictures… Annabeth wouldn't believe this.

"I'm in."

"That's just golden! I'm Karl Milton."

"Percy Jackson." I held out my hand. Karl looked at it warily and held his hands away.

"Sorry, son… I'm germophobic. I would shake your hand, honestly… but…"

"Oh! Sorry. That's fine. No worries."

"Golden! Let's be off then!"

Karl and I chatted as he brought me through a series of doors and exits down to the foothill just below the mountain. I looked up. No bats in the cave for the dead dudes. Which would be ironic… since their nostrils kind of made caves… I don't know.

Karl was a really cool guy. He told me his uncle was one of the workers that helped carve Mount Rushmore. He was legit connected to this place.

He had dedicated his life to mining for Black Hills gold to sell to jewelers. He also made those cool little water jars with bits of gold in it that they sell as souvenirs. This guy LOVED gold. He even had two small, gold hoop earrings in his ears- the first gold he ever mined- he told me.

Soon enough, we got to a private elevator capsule. He opened the door for me, then followed in close behind. It was a bit space-deprived, but it was okay.

A jolt told me we had begun to rise.

"Where exactly does this take us?"

"There's a small cavern to the left of George Washington's head. I call it the "eardrum" because it's where his ear would be."

"Whoa! How many people know about this?"

"Not too many, son. Not too many."

The capsule came to a stop. It was pretty dark, but Karl had brought a large flashlight. He flashed it to the wooden boardwalk that connected to the mountain, and I stepped out and walked quickly to the cavern. Karl followed, then handed me the flashlight.

"Well! Here we are! Ain't it golden!"

"It's pretty cool…"

There were stalactites and stalagmites. We ventured further into George Washington's… er, brain. His entire head was hollow it seemed.

"Was this part of the plan? To hollow out and make this place?"

No answer.

"Karl?"

Nothing.

I darted the flashlight about.

There was no sign of Karl.

He couldn't have gotten lost… he came here all the time…

"Karl?"

This was bad.

I made my way deeper into the cavern. I came to an opening that looked like it had light reflecting off water to the wall coming from it. I turned off the flashlight. Sure enough, there was a watery reflection on the wall. It had a yellowish tint to it as well… like…

Like gold.

I went into the opening and peeked around.

What I saw made my jaw drop.

Before me was a gigantic room.

Everything in it was gold.

Statues, plates, furniture, clothes, food, shoes… anything you could name, it was there… and it was gold.

Mountains and mountains of gold.

So much gold.

I could barely believe it.

I slowly walked into the room, my head swerving this way and that to take in all the sights.

There was a staircase with a gold carpet flowing on it. At the top, there was a throne, gold of course. A girl with a flowing gold dress, gold shoes, and blonde hair stood by the throne.

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

The girl just stared down at me. No emotion. No expression on her face.

On the other side of the throne, there were two statues.

One was a centaur… and one was a satyr.

They looked _very _familiar…

"OH MY GODS!"

It… they…

_Those statues were Grover and Chiron._

They had been turned into gold.

But… how…?

"PERCY JACKSON!"

I looked around. From another entrance, one that I had completely missed, emerged…

Karl… but he was dressed in lavish threads, silks and jewels. A large crown adorned his brow.

"Karl?"

"No. Not Karl Milton. _King Midas._"

King Midas. Gold freak.

Everything made sense now.

No it didn't.

"King Midas?"

"You fell into my little trap, Percy Jackson. Soon you will join your friends." He gestured to Chiron and Grover.

This is why he wouldn't shake my hand.

"But… I don't understand. Why?"

"Wrong questions, Mr. Jackson. There is a bigger and better plot… one I am not allowed to share with you. But I've been promised all I've ever desired."

"All you desired was gold, but we saw where _that _ended up, didn't we, Dad?" The girl spoke as she rolled her eyes. She was about my age. Maybe a little older.

"Silence, Eldorada!"

Eldorada just crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

I have no idea how I was going to get out of this one.

King Midas began to descend the stairs slowly. He kept his sharp eyes on me. Just to prove what he could do, he touched various things piled on the sides of the stairs. Seriously. The place was a huge gold dumpster. That's what it seemed like.

Everything he touched turned to gold.

Soon I would be, too.

I began to back up. Riptide was in my pocket, but… I couldn't just… _kill_ this guy… I mean…

He was King Midas.

And he lived in George Washington's head, whose brains were made of random gold shit.

"There's no escaping this fate, Percy Jackson."

"Let my friends go. Change them back! I warn you!"

There was a small cavern lake to my left. Like everything around it, it was also filled with gold stuff. Gold polluted the bottom of the otherwise clear lake. If push came to shove, I could use the water.

Push definitely came to shove, as Midas was not backing down.

I stopped backing up and focused on water.

The sensational tug in my gut told me I had harnessed control.

Even though my eyes were closed, I could sense the water rising out of the lake.

I threw my arms forward, commanding the water to shoot out at Midas. The roar of the waves filled the cavern, its acoustics magnifying the sound.

Eldorada screamed.

I opened my eyes and watched the water surround Midas in an aquatic cocoon.

I had him now.

I could see the blurred image of Midas frantically looking around in the bubble.

Then he smiled and stuck his hand through the cocoon.

To my dismay… the egg shaped water dome I had created around Midas turned to solid gold. It fell to the floor.

There was an opening in it, and out stepped Midas.

"You really think the superiority of your powers surpasses mine?"

I was screwed.

I'm pretty sure my Achilles' curse didn't fare well against being turned to _gold._

If I took out Riptide, he'd just turn it to gold and it would be useless against him and any other "monster."

"You can't defeat me, Jackson." Midas smiled.

I backed up again, but tripped over my feet. My iPod fell out of my hoodie pocket and clamored to the ground as I landed on my back.

Midas stopped advancing.

Somehow, my iPod had turned on.

"_IIIIII'VE BEEN TOOOOOOOOO THE DANGER ZONE! GONNA TAKE A RIIIIIIIDE INTOOOOOOOOOO THE DANGER ZONE…!"_

Midas stared, mesmerized by the little electronic device.

"Music…"

I looked up at Midas.

Then I looked up at Eldorada.

She smacked her hand against her head.

A facepalm if I've ever seen one.

There was something about music that Eldorada knew had an effect on her father.

I hesitantly stood up.

"DON'T MOVE, JACKSON!" Midas bellowed.

I froze.

"What is this device?"

"Er, it's an iPod. It, uh, plays music…"

"It's amazing. Superb. I've never seen anything like it… Eldorada! Do you know what this means?"

"What."

"I can redeem myself! I can remove these _blasted _donkey ears!"

He took off his crown.

Underneath it, tied in a small bundle, were a pair of bristly, hairy, donkey ears.

Midas removed the bandage tying them together.

The ears flopped out on either side of his head.

I had to _really_ contain my laughter. I could not believe this.

"Dad, I don't think this is such a good idea."

"Dora! You don't understand! With this device… I can _defeat _Apollo! Once and for all!"

"Um… what?" I was SO confused.

"Percy, you see, once upon a time, my dad was an idiot and made a bet with Apollo. He chose a different musician to play against Apollo to see which was musician was better. Well, _obviously _Apollo was, being the god of music and stuff… so to punish my idiot moron of a father, he gave him donkey ears to prove what an ass he was." She chuckled a bit.

"Eldorada! It is NOT funny! I can finally get these… these abominations removed… now, Percy. Tell me who is making that wonderful music on this device… this musical device… I must find them! _They _will for sure defeat Apollo! I've never heard such amazing music. Now, tell me, boy. _Who is it?_"

Well, it was Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone..." you know, from _Top Gun?_

But I didn't know Kenny Loggins personally.

This was a problem.

"Well?"

"It's my music, sir!"

I knew that voice…

Out of the shadows…

Nico. With his guitar.

"And who are _you_, boy?"

"I'm the musician behind that song. I'm Nico."

"Nico?"

"Nico."

Nico looked incredibly bored. Like he actually _was_ the artist.

Midas looked like it was his birthday rolled into Christmas on a giant trampoline in the Caribbean. He looked awed, and excited.

"YOU! You will… Ahahaha! This will work!"

Nico looked at me.

So did Midas.

"Er…"

"Nico will be my champion against Apollo! With his excellent music, Apollo will have no choice but to forfeit his status as the greatest musician and remove these ears!"

Nico's music? You mean… Nico's elephant hiccups?

"Uh… yes! Midas… You won't find a _greater_ musician than Nico here. He puts the MUSE in Music… he's a prodigy. Apollo will fail miserably."

"You really think so, Jackson?"

"Psh. Ch. Kuh. Totally! I mean… I've heard this guy play _thousands _of times. Flowers grow wherever he plays, honest. And then they dance."

Nico nodded.

"True story."

Midas rubbed his hands together.

"Well then. Let us begin. We must summon Apollo. Eldorada!"

"_No_, Daddy. I don't_ wanna._"

"But… you must!"

"Hold on, sir! I can call him. I have a drachma. Hold on."

I dug in my pocket and took out a drachma. Then I made the lake water spray a tiny mist so the gold could reflect and make a rainbow. I tossed the drachma in.

"Isis, please accept my offering."

The drachma disappeared.

"Lord Apollo."

The image shifted.

I saw a pair of feet hanging over a convertible door, bouncing back and forth. The owner of the car was sitting upside down in the driver's seat.

"Lord Apollo?"

The feet froze.

Then, with effort that took like three minutes and a lot of grunts, I saw a tanned, bleach blond haired face with sunglasses peek over the door between the feet.

"Percy! Dude! What is UP man? I was just getting some inspiration for a new tune. What do you think… hold on. I gotta get my guitar…"

"Apollo…"

"Just wait man."

Apollo sat up and began digging in the back seat.

He emerged with a fiery red guitar. It shone like the sun on a hot day.

Apollo strummed the strings, and sunbeams shot out the top.

"Sizzling, man. Awesome. Okay. It's called 'Hey You! Squirrel Over There!'"

"Uh, okay."

He played some introductory chords.

Then began to sing.

_Hey, you squirrel over there!_

_I'm jealous of your tail's hair!_

_Wish I could get a do like that…_

_Otherwise I'd have to wear a hat!_

_Squirrely squirrel your hair is nuts!_

_It's the best looking style, no if's and's or but's!_

_Tell me where you get it done!_

_Then we can go out in the town and have some fun!_

_Bushy and fluffy… I want it so bad!_

_The hair you rock makes you look so rad!_

He finished with some more chords. Then proceeded to slam his guitar to the ground and stick his tongue out, giving nobody the "rock on" sign.

Ladies and gentlemen, Apollo. God of music.

"Uh, that was great, Apollo! But…"

"LORD APOLLO!"

Midas stormed over to where I was standing and pushed me out of the way.

"Ass head! How _you_ been, man? Nice ears."

"I DEMAND REDEMPTION!"

"You're gonna need more than that with a face like that, man. May I recommend plastic surgery?"

"I have found a champion that will defeat you!"

Apollo perked an eyebrow.

"For reals? Cool. Hang tight for a sec."

He waved his hand over the image, and it disappeared.

About 10 seconds later, a bright light exploded into the cavern room, followed by the rev of an engine.

Apollo's convertible screeched to a stop, leaving flames in its tire's wake. His arm was draped casually over the side of the door, like he was taking a pleasure drive, trying to attract the ladies.

"The SUN has arrriiiiiiiiiiived!" Apollo shouted, moving his sunglasses to his head.

He hopped over the door and stood by his car, feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed over his chest, ready for anything.

Midas brought Nico over with him. Nico smirked at me and winked.

"This, Apollo, is Nico. I have heard his music. He is without a doubt more talented and skilled than you could ever be."

"Is that so? Well, then."

Apollo reached behind him and took a guitar out of his back seat.

"Let the battle of the bands commence." Apollo flicked his sunglasses back onto his eyes.

"Rock on, dude." Nico answered.

"Alright! Now, Apollo, you will play a tune. Then Nico will play a tune. Eldorada and I will judge which tune is best. If Nico wins, you remove these damned ass ears! If you win… well, we'll discuss that if it should _ever _happen."

"Whatever man. Here we go."

Apollo began to play some downright sick chords. It was impossible how fast his fingers were moving over the strings of his guitar. Flames literally erupted from them as they danced down the neck of the guitar.

Apollo played for about 3 minutes, then finished with an awesome finale worthy of the god of music.

I was dumbstruck.

Wow.

And he thought his _squirrel _song was good? What was _wrong _with this guy? Just record that and he'd be a star.

I applauded, as did Eldorada, who elbowed her father, who then applauded lightly and annoyed, with a bored expression.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure that was great. Now…"

Midas gazed at Nico as if… well, as if he were made of gold.

"…Nico! Show us your skill! Teach us with your music! Move us! Prove to us that Apollo is no match for your prestige and knowledge of music!"

Nico just clicked his tongue, winked, and pointed at Midas.

Then he readied his guitar.

And all Hades broke loose.

To his benefit, Nico _looked _really good playing the guitar.

He had the moves down perfect.

Now, his music on the other hand…

Let's just say everyone was holding their ears.

It was a mix of someone stepping on a cat, a sneezing elephant and everything that is wrong in the world.

Yep. That bad.

Midas, whilst holding his donkey ears, gaped, dismayed at Nico.

He had just been proven to be an ass. Again.

Nico finished his "song."

"THANK YOU! I'LL BE HERE ALL WEEK! BUT NOT REALLY! BECAUSE IT SMELLS HERE!" Nico fist pumped the air.

Midas let go of his ears and dropped to his knees.

He was speechless.

Apollo approached him. He had suddenly obtained a can of Sunkist.

He chugged about half of it, then wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

"So. You were saying, ass head? Now… what goes with donkey ears…? Oh. I know. A TAIL."

With a howl of pain, Midas jumped to his feet and clutched his new ass ass. A tail had sprouted out, complete with the bushy tuft of hair at the end.

"Dude. That sucks. If only donkey tails had the same hair consistency as like, squirrels. _They_ have awesome hair, man."

Midas began to sob pathetically. No one felt bad for him.

Eldorada just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I _told _you, Dad."

All of us just stood awkwardly in a circle around Midas.

"Well. This was fun and all, but I should really go now." Nico said.

"Nico…"

"Yeah, Perc."

"Thanks, man. You did great. Best music I've ever heard."

"You kidding? I suck. I'm thinking of bringing John Lennon and George Harrison back to teach some guitar lessons."

"No. It sucked. But it saved my life. Thanks."

Nico grinned.

"No problem, man."

We clapped each other's shoulders.

"Good luck, dude."

"Thanks."

And Nico melted into the shadows.

Which left me, Apollo, and Eldorada.

And Midas. But no one likes him so he doesn't count.

"Well, pretty sure Chiron and Grover are going to be a bit stiff."

Apollo raised his guitar once again and played a soothing, silky tune that seemed to just flow from the guitar.

Then he, his convertible and his guitar disappeared. The last I saw was Apollo saluting me in farewell.

The statues of Grover and Chiron turned a red hot orange, then the gold faded and they were regular colors.

They both shook their heads, looked at each other, looked around, and spotted us.

"Perrrrrrcy! You found me! Thank the gods!"

"Percy! Thank you! I wish I could talk, but I _must_ prepare the Camp! This is bad… it cannot happen."

"What can't happen, Chiron?"

"No time! I must go!"

He took out a small stone from one of his saddle bags. He threw it in the air, clapped twice, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Grover ran down the stairs to me.

"C'mon! We have to save him!"

"Save who?"

"Mr. D!"

"Where is he?"

"The bottom of the lake!"

We ran over to the lake.

"Do something, Percy!"

"Like what?"

"Empty the lake so I can get Mr. D out of the chains!"

I closed my eyes and focused for the second time tonight. I swiped my arms horizontally, as if calling a baseball runner safe. The lake split in two, sides rising up, leaving the middle of the lake empty.

I could see Mr. D in a huge pile of celestial bronze chains. He was literally buried in chains. I couldn't see any part of him.

Grover began playing his reed pipes.

A haunting melody seeped from the smooth wood, and vines began to make their way towards Mr. D.

They reached him, wrapped themselves around him, and began to lift him and bring him towards us.

Once he was out and near us, Grover stopped playing and I put the water back.

I took out Riptide and brandished the blade. I cut through the chains easily, like a knife through a blue hotdog.

The chains rattled apart with various _CLANGS_ and Mr. D emerged, coughing and breathing hard.

He was bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for air.

Then he straightened up and looked around.

"What?"

We didn't say anything.

"Why are you all staring? Seriously. Nothing ever gets done around here. I have to do everything. EVERYTHING. Come, Grover. We must get back to camp."

Grover looked at me. We hugged briefly.

"Go get 'em, man."

"Yeah. Wish me luck. I'll need it."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, G-man. I'm glad you're safe."

"Enough of the love fest. We have to help Chiron. Thanks for your assistance Paul Jorgenson."

"Percy Jackson."

"Whatever."

"See ya, Perc."

With a snap of Mr. D's grape scented fingers, Grover and he disappeared.

Midas was still wracking with sobs on the ground.

I looked at Eldorada.

"He's such a baby. He'll get over it soon."

"You sure?"

"No, he won't. He never got over the ears. That's why he joined up with _her."_

"With who?"

"I don't know for sure. But she's awful, Percy. Whatever she has planned, it's not good. I've heard about you. I know you can stop this. All I know is that Mount Whitney is where she is. Dad always talked about her being there. That's where you need to go."

Eldorada fiddled with her girdle.

_Girdle._ But it was black leather…

But Midas…

"Eldorada, can I ask you a random, weird favor?"

"…Sure."

"Can I… Can I have your girdle?"

She looked at me strangely.

"Um, sure."

"I'm not creepy, I swear. I need it for something."

She took off her girdle and handed it to me.

I bent down to Midas' level.

"Midas. You need to touch this for me."

Midas looked up. Shame filled his eyes. Embarrassment emanated from his body.

"And why should I do _you_ such a favor when you tricked me?"

"Dad. Just do it. You're in no position to bargain or complain."

Midas looked up at Eldorada. Then he looked back at me.

His hand tentatively reached out and grasped the end of the leather girdle.

A flash of gold shone throughout the room, and I watched as a trail of gold melted and flowed its way up the girdle to where I was holding it.

And I had a golden girdle.

"Thanks."

Midas looked away.

"You know it wasn't his fault, Dad. It was you being a stupid ass. Again. You never learn."

He looked so pathetic.

I took out my iPod.

"Midas… here."

Midas looked up at me with a questioning gaze.

"Listen to this enough, and learn what real good music is. Then try to get those appendages removed some other time. I recommend you choose Apollo."

"You must go now, Percy."

Eldorada approached me and kissed my cheek.

"Good luck, Percy."

"Thanks."

It took me awhile to get down from the mountain, as you can probably imagine. I had to figure out how the capsule worked.

It was well past 3 in the morning when I got back to the hotel. But I couldn't stay. I had to get back to St. Paul. I checked out (with a lot of confused looks from the staff) and got into my car and drove.

I drove all night. It wasn't the best thing to do, but I wasn't tired at all. I was way too wired from all that had happened this past evening.

I made it back to St. Paul around 10 in the morning. I returned my car to the renting dealership, took various taxis, and ran as fast as I could to the Radisson. From there, I went out by the Mississippi River.

I could remember how I got out, so I just replayed that and turned it backwards.

After about an hour and a half, I could smell campfires.

Sure enough, I started to see tree houses, hidden to any other eye. Some Amazonian women looked at me and waved flirtatiously. I sort of half smiled and waved back.

I made it to the main area, where I had been tied up. I looked up and saw the cage in which Annabeth and Jolie were being kept in. They were there.

"PERCY!" Jolie shrieked.

"Hey! You guys okay?"

"Yeah! Are you?"

"Yep! Annabeth? You okay?"

"Of course I am, Jackson. Don't be stupid. I don't need you to protect me."

Good old Annabeth. Still bitter.

"Percy Jackson! You have returned! Brought you de girdle?"

"I took out the girdle as Hippolyta approached me. Her eyes widened and a bright smile graced her features.

"You have succeeded Percy Jackson. Dis is most pleasing. Tank you, Percy Jackson. Two of you! Release de girls!"

Two Amazons grabbed the rope that hung the cage and began to tug it down. The cage lowered slowly. The door was unlocked and Annabeth and Jolie burst out. The guards gave them their backpacks.

"How can I ever tank you enough, Percy Jackson?"

Jolie ran up and hugged me tightly. Some tears leaked onto my shirt. But I didn't care. Annabeth stood a ways away from us, with her arms crossed.

"It's okay. You don't need to do anything… just… if we ever need you… would you fight with us?"

"Of course. You can always count on de Amazons! We never break our word!"

She lifted up the golden girdle for all to see and did some sort of celebratory chant in a different language. The other women repeated it and began to celebrate.

Hippolyta held out her hand. I reached out and shook it. She pressed her other fist to her heart.

"I hereby pledge friendship and trust to our new friend and ally, Percy Jackson."

The other women cheered even louder.

"Thanks, Hippolyta. Good luck with your girdle."

"Tank you, Percy Jackson. Tank you. You have renewed hope for de Amazons. We will prosper once more tanks to you. You are honored among us."

"Thanks. I wish we could celebrate with you, but we really need to be on our way. We have a long ways to go."

"Yes, yes! Don't let me keep you! You must go! Good luck brave Percy! Good luck!"

With that, we turned and left. Jolie held onto my arm and Annabeth trailed a few feet behind us.

We had to get to the airport.

Then we had to fly to California.

Mount Whitney, here we come.

**AN**

Hooray! I got it done when I said I would! I must admit I had some doubts there!

Review if you like.

Until Chapter 12, Lovies!

_**Lily**_


	12. Of Apples and Discord

**PRE AN:**

Wahhh! TT-TT I realized in the previous chapter, I wrote "Isis" instead of "Iris." Baha. WRONG MYTHOLOGICAL IDEALISM AND ANCIENT CULTURE, THERE, LILY. Whoops. So anyway, I apologize for that.

Anyway. Chapter 12.

Jolie had decided to go swimming in the outdoor pool. It was California after all, and Jolie had never seen palm trees before. They were surrounding the pool, giving it a nice little canopy of fresh green.

Although she invited me to go with her, I didn't want to go swimming.

Strange, being the son of Poseidon… but hey, life isn't always about water. Well, it is… but…

You get the point.

I was in my pajama bottoms lying on the bed watching TV. There was a History Channel special about Ancient Greece and Olympian gods on. It made me laugh whenever they referred to the gods as only religious myths. If they only knew.

If they only knew.

Annabeth was on her laptop doing gods-knew-what.

I couldn't help glancing at her every once in awhile.

She was wearing my favorite pajamas on her: camisole and blue-green pajama shorts.

I couldn't _not_ look at her.

Her blonde curls cascaded down her back, bouncing whenever she moved her head in the slightest way.

"Stop looking at me, Jackson."

I had been caught.

I looked away from her back at the screen.

"_The Big Three, as they are called, are Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. After Zeus overthrew their father, Kronos, the three brothers drew lots for realms."_

My dad had told me that story. Hades had wanted to redraw various times, so they kept putting the options back in the holder and drawing again. Dad had told me he had ended up with the Sky a few times, and Zeus had gotten the Ocean. But Hades kept drawing "Underworld."

I thought this was hilarious. And the way my dad told it… he was cracking up.

I smiled just thinking about it.

I couldn't control it when my eyes glanced over at Annabeth again… and they stayed on her.

"Seriously, Jackson, if you look at me like that _one more time_…"

"Sorry."

"Sure you are. Just like you were sorry about the other day, too, as well?"

I sat up and faced her.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Annabeth. I tried to explain stuff to you but you didn't believe me."

"What was there to discuss, Jackson? How do you explain making out with a girl who wasn't your girlfriend to your girlfriend?"

"If you would've listened to me… let me have told you what happened…"

"Like I could trust you anyway."

There was a period of silence.

"You certainly trusted me all those years before."

Annabeth glared at me and slammed her laptop shut.

"You know what Jackson? I _could _trust you all those years because you never pulled off any shit like you did that night. I don't know how you could take advantage of Jolie like that, especially when she's been in such a stressful state. You're an ass… a… a _monster_ to have done something like that. You're no better than Luke was when Kronos had possessed him. At least Luke was a _good _person before that. You have no one possessing you and you're an untrustworthy son of a bitch!"

She had crossed the line. No one refers to my mother as a bitch. _No one._

I got off the bed and Annabeth stood up as well.

"You've pushed this too far, Chase. I'm not putting up with your nagging, complaining shit any longer. I'm calling you out. You're being a wise-ass _bitch._"

"_How dare you Jackson."_

"Yeah? How dare _you_ compare me to Luke! You think you know everything because you're a daughter of Athena. Well, let me tell you, you _don't _know everything, otherwise we'd still be together. But you're so stubborn and selfish, like your mother, that you wouldn't see the truth if it was slapping you in the face."

"Is that so."

"Damn right that's so."

Annabeth approached me and slapped me across my face.

"_Do. Not. Insult. My. Mother."_

"Just returning the favor, _bitch._"

She slapped me again.

She must've forgotten my curse, because… well, it didn't hurt.

I lifted my arms in a "come get me" position, exposing my "vulnerability"…challenging her to hit me again.

"You think you can hurt me, Chase? Come try again. I dare you. But may I remind you of my little swim in the Styx? OH, but even better… remember how I thought of _you_ as my _lifeline?_ Funny how my lifeline wants to kill me. Strange little twist of events, huh?"

Annabeth's face turned red and she gritted her teeth together.

"I hate you Jackson. I wish I'd never met you. I wish I hadn't wasted the past few years loving you. My mother was right. I can do _way _better than the pea-brained son of the Kelp King."

Now she was insulting my father.

"I wish Luke was still alive. He wouldn't have treated me like this. He would've been a…"

I grabbed her shoulders so tightly she yelped in pain. I backed her up quickly against the hotel room wall and slammed her against it. Her head hit the wall and she clenched her eyes shut. Some tears leaked out.

I slammed her back against it again.

"I have had _enough_ of you, Chase. You're blaming me for something that _I didn't do,_ making your own presumptions like you always do, not listening to reason, and then you go about and insult my family. That's a low blow, even for you. Bitch about _me_ all you want, but do _not_ bring my family into this. That's lower than the Underworld… no. Scratch that. That behavior is lower than _Tartarus._"

My face had inched closer to hers during that entire speech.

Our faces were mere centimeters apart and both our chests were heaving in anger.

My eyes bore into her eyes.

Her eyes flickered back and forth between mine.

Then they flickered…

To my mouth.

Our mouths were just centimeters away as well.

(That happens when the rest of your face is centimeters apart, too. Just saying.)

I gulped a few times. Annabeth watched my Adam's apple rise and fall.

Our breaths were mingling. I could smell the after-dinner mint she had had at the restaurant. I could taste it in the air I inhaled.

I let go of Annabeth's shoulders, but kept her trapped with my arms on both sides of her head.

Her eyes skimmed my chest, almost touching hers.

She made eye contact with me again and I saw her resolve something in her head.

Annabeth raised her fist to slam it into my jaw. I caught it around her wrist before it made impact and glared at her. She glared right back, clenching her jaw.

She grunted in pain, but heaved a breath and tried with her other fist.

I caught that one, too, in the same manner.

Annabeth looked extremely pissed off… and conflicted.

Her gaze pierced mine once again, and we stood and had a glare-off for about five minutes.

Then she did something I'd never expected in a million years.

She ripped her wrists out of my grasp, and then grabbed the back of my head roughly and pulled my mouth to hers. I almost lost my balance as she dragged me forward that I was suddenly crushing her to the wall with my body.

Our mouths connected so ferociously, our teeth clicked together. Our lips would definitely be bruised. I groaned on impact and Annabeth exhaled through her nose while moaning. She tugged my bottom lip with her teeth and sucked on it. Then she opened her mouth and my tongue delved in. She tasted absolutely amazing. Better than I had ever remembered. It was bliss… I had missed this so much. My heart was swelling with the hopes that she had realized her mistake and had actually taken me back.

Her arms wrapped around my neck tightly and she pressed her body against mine, leaving no space. My arms snaked around her waist and I ripped her away from the wall, just to slam her back into it. Her hands gripped my hair and she raked her nails across my scalp. I gripped her hips possessively, my fingers digging into the soft flesh.

_My _Annabeth.

_Mine._

This couldn't be happening. We were just having the worst fight _ever_, and then Annabeth decides she wants to ravage my face. I guess I wasn't complaining.

She was moaning into my mouth. Apparently she had missed this, too.

I separated our lips for just a second to try and get a grasp on reality, but Annabeth whimpered and caught my lips with hers once again.

I growled and tilted my head to the side getting more access.

Our bodies were grinding together, I was afraid we'd start a fire with the friction. We had _never _had this much body movement the times we'd kissed before. It was making up for the rejection… the loneliness… maybe even the "betrayal." It was a necessity for both of us.

We needed this.

We needed each other.

I couldn't describe it other than… we were practically eating one another.

Our kisses were wet, hot and completely out of control.

All that anger at each other, I guess, was days' worth of pent up sexual tension.

Annabeth leapt up and wrapped her legs around my waist. I almost lost my balance and fell over, but then I just backed up toward the hotel bed, and I dropped us both on it, Annabeth under me. She scooted up so her head could be on the pillows and I crawled right along with her. Our mouths never detached.

I collapsed down on top of her.

She was pulling my hair so hard I was pretty sure it was going to rip out.

Our mouths separated… but remained only a few millimeters away.

Annabeth looked at me. Her eyes were clouded. I'm positive mine were too.

Her hands were gripping my face. We were practically sharing oxygen.

After a few seconds of panting and catching our breaths, I lowered my mouth to hers again.

Annabeth instantly opened her mouth and responded.

And it commenced once more.

About two minutes later Annabeth turned her face to the side, ceasing our kiss.

I gave her a questioning look, looking into her eyes once more. I stroked her face, apologizing for whatever I had done to upset her… then I saw her eyes.

Her eyes had become narrowed and piercing. She glared at me, and unbeknownst to me at the time, raised her fist and punched my lower back. I hissed in ultimate pain.

"_Bitch!"_

She had stooped low enough to get my Achilles Heel… er, lower back. I rolled off of her and onto the floor, clenching my teeth with the pain.

"What the hell?"

"I _hate_ you _so much_, Jackson. Stay away from me. Just… just leave me alone."

Annabeth got off the bed, wiping her mouth off and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

I…was so… incredibly… confused.

The pain eventually dulled, but I remained on my stomach on the floor.

Great. She was going to blame me for _this, _too, even though she _SO_ initiated it.

I heard the door click unlocked.

Jolie came in, a towel wrapped around her and a towel in her hands that she was using to dry her hair.

"Percy… why are you sitting on the floor?"

"Uh, no reason." I stood up.

"Where's Annabeth?"

"In the bathroom."

"Oh. Well, when she comes out, I really think we should plan what we're going to do. Where did you say Mount Whitney was?"

"It's about 25 miles south from where we are right now."

"How are we going to get there?"

"I'm planning on renting a car. That's what I did when I went to South Dakota."

"Oh. Percy?"

I just didn't get it… what Annabeth did… it threw me off. Severely. I couldn't concentrate on anything… all I could feel was her lips on mine, her tongue dancing with mine… her body pressed up against mine…

"Percy?"

"…hmm?"

"Did you hear what I said? Are you okay? You're acting strangely. And you look a bit disheveled. You should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."

"Oh. Right. Yeah."

I heard the bathroom door open and Annabeth came out. I could tell she had been crying. Her eyes were puffy and red.

Jolie didn't miss that fact either.

"Annabeth! What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. I'm homesick, that's all. I miss my siblings."

Jolie approached Annabeth and hugged her. Annabeth awkwardly hugged back. She looked blankly at me over Jolie's shoulder. I looked away. I couldn't stand seeing her right now. She broke my heart, or whatever was left of it. Again. As if that were possible. She raised my hopes with what she did. I thought she had…

But I was wrong.

"Percy and I were just discussing what we should do tomorrow. We're going to rent a car to get to Mount Whitney… and that's all we got covered."

"There isn't much we can plan for, Jolie. Whoever's behind this will make the first move once we get there. All we can do is be prepared."

Annabeth had a good point. This quest was different. We didn't know what to expect. We didn't even know the culprit. At least with the other quests we had been on… we had had _some _idea… and other people to help us.

"I'm scared."

Of course she was. Jolie had no guts whatsoever.

"Well, let's all just get to sleep. You're right, Jolie. We have a big day tomorrow. Whatever's going to happen."

With that, I climbed into bed, and Jolie and Annabeth climbed into the other one. Jolie shut the lights off. And that was that.

The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by a pair of mismatched eyes.

"Percy! Wake up! It's almost 8 in the morning! Annabeth's showering. Get up!"

I opened my eyes lazily.

Gods. Morning already? That was fast.

Jolie was rushing around, packing up her stuff and trying to dry her wet hair off at the same time.

About an hour later, all three of us were downstairs eating a big continental breakfast.

I officially dubbed mini orange muffin things the best breakfast pastry on earth. Besides Mom's blue waffles.

After one last look around the room and gathering our stuff, we checked out and took a hotel taxi to the car rental place.

I right away went for the Mazdas. The blue ones.

Annabeth went for the silver Jeeps.

Jolie went for the gold pick-up trucks.

Oh man.

Unnecessary squabbling here we come.

"Jackson. Jeeps are meant for outdoor activity. We're going to be driving up a mountain."

"Percy! This truck has four wheel drive! What if there's ice higher up the mountain?"

"Whatever. I don't even care. You two figure it out."

And then off went Annabeth and Jolie.

"Pick-ups are too big on a narrow mountain road!"

"Jeeps can roll over in an instant! I don't want to tumble to my death off a mountain, thank you very much!"

I watched them argue back and forth, like a tennis match.

Jolie put up a pretty good front against a daughter of Athena.

She definitely wasn't Hera's kid. Hera and Athena got along.

This whole argument was just chaotic. I couldn't stand it anymore.

I walked away toward the office. Neither of them noticed.

The bell rang when I opened the door, announcing my arrival.

A middle-aged man with dark hair looked up.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Uh, yeah. I would like to rent out the blue Mazda in parking space 3A."

"May I see your driver's license?"

I showed him.

He wrote some stuff down on an important looking form.

"How will you be paying?"

I took out a wad of cash.

"How much?"

"$350 a day."

I flipped out three hundreds and a fifty.

"I think we'll only be needing it for today. Thanks."

He handed me the keys.

"You drive safely now."

"I will. Thanks."

I left the office and found Annabeth and Jolie still fighting.

"GUYS! GET IN THE CAR. WE'RE GOING."

Annabeth and Jolie stopped abruptly and just looked at me with shocked expressions on their faces.

Yes, I had just made an executive decision as a party of one.

"PERCY! You…!"

"Just shut up, Annabeth. Get in the stupid car."

To my surprise, Annabeth shut up.

Jolie opened the passenger side door and was about to get in.

"Excuse you. Who said _you _were sitting in the front?"

"I… uh… sort of, um… just thought you wouldn't want to sit by Percy since you guys seem so mad at…"

"Get in the back, Jolie."

Jolie shrank back and obliged.

Annabeth plopped down onto the seat and got herself comfortable.

Jolie put her earphones in right away.

I wish I could do the same.

"Drive Jackson. I'll be navigating."

"Yes, Madam _Bitch._"

Annabeth gave me a side glare but let it go.

And we were off.

Help.

COULD. NOT. STAND. ANNABETH. AS. A. NAVIGATOR. ANY. LONGER.

I don't know how many detours we took. Annabeth kept telling me turn at certain roads and to get on certain freeways and take different exits… but it just didn't seem right.

So, to make a long story short, we were even more pissed at each other if that was even possible.

"If you had JUST taken Exit number…"

"Don't even talk to me."

"It says RIGHT here on the map that you needed to…"

"You know what? You should lend your voice to GPS systems. It's definitely annoying enough…"

"Watch it, Jackson."

"Whatever."

And it continued thus.

In the distance, we could see the mountain range. The clouds covered the very tops, and they appeared as purple haze. It seemed like we weren't getting any closer.

I noticed how far we'd gotten about an hour later.

"Turn here."

I turned.

We were now in Sequoia National Park.

It was a state road that allowed you to drive up the mountain. There was an old chain gate in front of the entrance that read:

Open Monday-Saturday only  
8 A.M. – 7 P.M.  
Please do not drive up or down the mountain at night  
Thank you.

Today was Sunday.

Oh man.

I had stopped the car in front of the gate.

"Now what?"

Annabeth huffed and pushed the car door open.

I saw her remove some clips out of her hair as she approached the locked gate.

She was picking the lock.

Soon enough, she had unlocked it, and had pulled it off the gate, chain attached, and pushed the gates open.

She started back towards the car.

I contemplated leaving without her.

I decided to be nice.

Annabeth got back in the car.

"Go. Quick, before someone sees."

We were by no means in trouble of _that._ We hadn't seen another car in hours.

I crept the car forward and we drove through the gate.

After a few miles, we finally came to a sign that said:

MOUNT WHITNEY  
14,505 FEET (4,421 M)  
HIGHEST SUMMIT IN CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES

"There's a footnote here on the bottom of the map, Jackson. It says we can only drive so far up the mountain. The road only goes about 1/5 of the way up. That's for sightseeing and pictures. You can't get up the mountain on a road."

"We'll just drive as far as we can, then."

I stepped on the gas pedal.

I decided I officially hated driving up the mountains. I realize that the zig-zags are to make it easier on the car and make the elevation less prominent, but still. It got really lame.

I decided to drive a bit faster; about 10 miles over the speed limit. No one was driving up or down the mountain anyway. It was Sunday.

We kept passing elevation markers. The trees on the side of the road were so thick, they were blocking out a lot of sunlight. I turned on the headlights.

After we passed the 2,000 foot marker, we came out of the forest and onto a road that had only a metal beam keeping us from falling to our deaths. The direction I was driving had me right by the beam on the right side of the road.

I decided to slow down.

"When does the road end?"

"At the 3,500 foot marker. A few more miles."

"Okay."

I kept driving. We got to go through a few tunnels.

Cool.

The sky was so blue today. It didn't seem like we were driving towards impending doom. The trees lined the other mountains near Mount Whitney. They were so tall… it was amazing that they had been around for hundreds and hundreds of…

"PERCY! WATCH OUT!"

I came back to earth and pressed my foot to the brakes, swerving to the left to avoid a…

There was a woman in the middle of the road with a flowing, almost smoke-like dress. Her hair was black as coal, and her eyes…

Her eyes had been glowing gold.

She had been tossing a golden apple up and down.

The car, on my side, scraped against the side of the mountain, creating a shower of sparks and the scream of a dracenae.

Annabeth and Jolie screamed as I tried with all my might to make the car swerve away from the mountainside.

I could feel the heat of the friction between the metal of the car and the rock.

Finally, I managed to swerve away, but instantly wished I had stayed there.

The car whipped across the median once more. It screeched to a halt…

But not before the front crashed through the metal side barrier.

The car tilted halfway on the mountain, halfway off… dipping Annabeth and me down so we could see what awaited us at the bottom.

A 3,000 foot fall which would end with us splattering to the ground unceremoniously like the bags of flesh that we were.

I didn't think my curse would let me live through that, either.

But I didn't care what happened to me. The curse _might _let me live…

But what about Annabeth?

Jolie?

I gulped several times in succession and slowly turned my head to look at Annabeth.

Her eyes were wide as saucers staring down at her pending death.

I chanced a glance back at Jolie who was trying to back up as far as she could and hanging onto the back of the seat.

"Annabeth."

"What."

"Let's try and move back. With our weight in the back, the car might stay on the road."

"Okay."

"You go first. I'll try to keep the car steady."

"No, Percy. You go first. You're heavier."

"Annabeth… go. Now."

Annabeth stared helplessly into my face, her eyes glassy.

I nodded to her.

She began to move.

The car dipped dangerously.

Annabeth stopped.

"I can't. If we move, we're done."

"If we don't move, we're done."

"Percy… I…"

"Annabeth…"

Jolie screamed as the car tilted and fell off the cliff.

Annabeth grasped for me and began to shriek.

It was a bloodcurdling scream that filled my head.

I held onto Annabeth as the car that held us turned through the air, tossing us about and making our bodies bruise against every orifice of the car.

The ground got closer.

And closer.

And closer.

And closer.

This was it.

"Annabeth, I…"

I shut my eyes as the car fell the last 20 feet to the rocky gorge.

I felt a burning sensation, like my entire body was engulfed in flames.

I braced myself for the deadly impact.

But the impact never came.

The heat increased in temperature and suddenly I felt like I was being ripped away.

I was still hanging onto Annabeth. My eyes were locked shut.

I was laying on a hard surface.

I opened one eye.

Then the other.

And I sat up.

Annabeth and I were sitting in the middle of a marble room surrounded by Greek columns.

Everything was white. Even the sky. It was like we were in a state of nothingness.

The air was chilly, but there was no breeze, so we weren't freezing.

"Where are we?"

Annabeth had woken up and sat up next to me.

"I… I don't know."

"Where's Jolie?"

We looked around. Jolie was nowhere to be seen.

"JOLIE!"

"Jolie?"

I stood up and offered my hand to Annabeth who took it. I helped her up and we glanced around frantically.

"Jolie!"

"Where are you?"

"Can you hear us?"

We tried to exit the room by going through the spaces in between the columns, but there was an invisible force-field that kept us from leaving. Looking through the columns, I saw that we were well up in the sky. That was the summit of Mount Whitney about 200 feet below us.

"I don't like this."

Annabeth had come up next to me.

"I don't either. Where's Jolie?"

"Where are _we,_ Jackson?"

"We're above Mount Whitney."

"How did we get up here? We were just falling down the mountain and then… I felt…"

"I felt like I was burning up."

"Me too."

I looked up and around once more, taking in the surroundings.

It felt and looked like we were in an ice palace. It was that white. Everything was polished to perfection. Black and grey veins coursed through the white marble. There was no ceiling.

Swirling grey clouds circled above us. It looked like a developing storm.

It was too creepy. Annabeth had drawn her dagger. I took it as a sign to get Riptide out.

As soon as I released Riptide, a strong gust of icy wind blew through the open room and ripped the weapons from our hands. When Riptide didn't return, I knew someone or some_thing_ had it.

That was answered for me soon after I thought it.

There was a golden orb floating through the air towards Annabeth and me.

I backed us up and made sure Annabeth was a bit behind me.

The orb, when it was about ten feet away, stopped.

From the top of it sprouted a small stem. Out of the stem, a leaf emerged, unfolding.

A golden apple.

It started to glow. I had to shield my eyes when a bright golden light flashed all around us, and an impossible heat engulfed us. It burned my eyes and I closed them tightly. I felt Annabeth grasp onto my arm and bury her face into my shoulder blade.

I felt the coolness instantly. I took this as a sign that the light was gone.

I opened my eyes.

Greeting my sight was the woman from the middle of the road.

I could make out even more details this time.

Her skin was an olive tone.

The dress she wore billowed around her hourglass form, some of it evaporating as it hit the ground. It was sleeveless, and behaved just like smoke, only conformed to her body.

Her hair was straight and raven black and cascaded down on either shoulder, reaching almost to her waist.

Her eyes were a pure gold with no pupils.

_Those were the eyes I had seen. The eyes that had possessed Annabeth in my nightmare. They didn't belong to Kronos. They belonged to her._

Her lips were red as blood… and surrounded a perfect set of pearly white teeth, set in an unsettling smile.

She tossed a golden apple up and down in her hand.

"Percy Jackson."

I recognized the voice from my nightmares, and the voice that was inside my head that night with Jolie.

"I am honored that you could make it to my domain."

I looked back at Annabeth. She was peeking over my shoulder.

"D-domain? Where exactly is, uh… here?"

"My domain of chaos. You see, Perseus, I revel in the realm of chaos. It is my very strength. Mischief and discord run through my veins."

Her eyes flashed.

"…who… who are you?"

"Oh dear. Forgive me. I have restrained that information from reaching _anyone_. You see, one of my many talents is mind games… creating chaos in the brain."

Annabeth tensed behind me.

"Now that the information has returned, your little ex-lover can tell you who I am."

Annabeth staggered backward, hitting her back to a column. Her hands were on her head as if she had a headache. She was moaning in pain.

"Agggh… it's all coming back… too quickly… migraine…"

I went to her and held her.

Her eyes were going in and out of focus.

"Annabeth! Stay with me… come on. You're okay… you're fine. Everything's alright…"

Annabeth collapsed.

"ANNABETH!"

No response.

"ANNABETH!"

I stood up and faced the woman behind me.

"If she's dead… I'm going to…"

The woman pointed her finger at me.

I levitated a few feet off the ground. My body was paralyzed.

"Relax. She isn't dead. Just something I'd like to call "Wisdom overload.""

I glared at her.

"Uhh…"

I looked behind me.

Annabeth was sitting up, her hand to her forehead.

She shook her head a bit and then stood up slowly.

She looked up at me, then at the woman.

"Eris. Goddess of chaos and discord."

Eris gave a little curtsy.

"Guilty as charged." She smiled.

"You're the one who tempered with my head. You erased all the information… anything about you so we wouldn't discover you. You made it so it was as if you didn't exist. Except… except you couldn't erase Chiron's knowledge. He's a son of Kronos… you can't… but the gods should've known…"

"The gods! They're so preoccupied with their own petty problems. Many of those like me, minor gods and goddesses are ignored and all but forgotten by the Olympians. That is why they must be destroyed. It was so simple for me to trick them… to cause chaos on Mount Olympus. Who would ever look to Mount Ida as the problem? Three goddesses in particular try to forget this place. They've almost succeeded."

"What… what do you mean?"

"Have a seat. And I will tell you."

Two marble chairs appeared out of nowhere. I slammed down into one and Annabeth was lifted onto the other one and dropped as ungraciously as I was. We couldn't move.

"Let us go back thousands of years. Back in the days of the Greek empire. Back in the days where the gods were worshipped blindly despite their selfishness and carelessness of man. Gods like me were ignored and forgotten, much like the Olympians have been since the rise of the Roman empire. I remember… there was a woman named Thetis. She was to be married. It was to be a grand wedding. Beautiful, happy, bright. Everyone was invited. That is, everyone but _me. _There were so many guests. Not inviting a goddess is a major offense. Being one who holds every grudge, I decided to act upon this petty ignorance. I crafted a desirable object, one that even the gods would pine for. Even more than mortals would pine for it. I created this."

The golden apple she was holding rose above her palm and spun, as if it was on display for us. It sank back down into her palm and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

"The Apple of Discord…" Annabeth breathed.

"Taking advantage of your returned knowledge, I see, Daughter of Athena."

Annabeth looked down at her lap.

"Like you said, yes. The Apple of Discord. I arrived at the wedding party. There, I found all the guests partying, drinking, dancing, celebrating. Among them, the goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. Amongst mortals. Undignified, disgracing what it meant to be a goddess. It was here that I made myself known, displaying my creation. Faces turned towards me, eyes widened. The goddesses looked at me with questioning gazes. I could see the hunger in their eyes for what I held."

Eris paused, a smug grin on her face as she remembered her greatest triumph.

"I tossed it into the air and shouted, 'The fairest of the goddesses shall have it!' And the most glorious sound arose from the crowd. Shouts of displeasure, pain, complaints, quarrels… and even better… the shouting and quarrels of the three goddesses. You see, each of them is so selfish, egocentric and narcissistic, that each of them thought they deserved my Apple. They rushed to grab the idle apple, believing themselves to be the most beautiful of all. Fools.

"This quarrel lasted a very long time. The gods on Olympus were pestered with the same question, "Which of us is the fairest?" Afraid to offend either of them, the gods remained silent as to not get involved, and chaos remained on Olympus, to my pleasure.

"To my displeasure, Zeus came up with a plan. There was a handsome prince who lived in Troy. One who knew beauty. But only physical beauty. Zeus chose this prince, whose name was Paris. He bestowed upon him the decision as to which of the three goddesses was the most beautiful. Zeus assigned Hermes to give Paris my Apple. Paris would then give the Apple to the goddess whom he thought was the most beautiful. Hermes brought the three goddesses to Mount Ida. They posed in front of Paris, wearing their most attractive and richly decorated attire.

"When Paris remained indecisive, the goddesses resorted to bribery.

"Give the Apple to me, noble Prince, and you shall have all the power in the world." Hera offered.

"No, wise prince. Bestow upon _me_ the Apple and you shall be wiser than all men." Athena countered.

"Fair prince… pay no heed to those useless gifts. Present the apple to _me_… and you shall have the most beautiful woman on earth as your own." Aphrodite bribed.

"Paris, the selfish fool that he was, prized above all else, beauty. If he could have the most beautiful woman as his own… then he would give the Apple to Aphrodite. Which he did.

"The woman promised to Paris was in fact the infamous Helen of Sparta, wife of Menelaus. _Wife_, mind you. Now Menelaus was the brother of the King Agamemnon, who was quickly taking over much of Greece and was easily the most powerful King in Greece. The only land he could not conquer was Troy. Their great wall was impassible. Troy would never fall, for it hid behind its strong walls. After Helen was taken from Menelaus by Paris to Troy, Menelaus asked his brother to go to war with him to Troy. Agamemnon saw this as a great opportunity. I saw into his black heart. He cared nothing for Menelaus or his wife. This was a chance to seize Troy. And we all know the ending of this tale." Eris chuckled.

"When Western civilization moved, Mount Ida became Mount Whitney. I decided it was here, where my chaos had reigned before, that I would make my plans.

"So, to say in the least… _my _precious Apple was the downfall of Troy. The most chaotic event in all of man's history. The world was in so much discord after that…and it has not yet healed."

I looked at Annabeth. Realization dawned on her face.

"You… all the wars… they've just been aftershocks of Troy… and… now you… you want…"

"All things come in threes. Tell me, wise Annabeth… how many World Wars have there been?"

"…Two… but… but…_ oh no._"

Annabeth's eyes widened in fear.

Eris smiled and her eyes flashed.

"It was only a matter of time. With all the technology and nuclear weapons… with all the international _hatred_… World War Three… the war to end all wars… will destroy the world. And much like the Trojan war accomplished, the splitting of alliances between the gods. Not only will this world be destroyed… but theirs as well. The very thing that ended the all powerful Troy… will also be the downfall of today."

"You can't do this."

"Oh, Perseus. Always the hero. Kronos may have failed, but I will not. It was only too easy to get you to do what I wanted you to. My little daughter made sure of that. Poor, despicable thing. Didn't even know I was controlling her. Her mind and body are so weak. Easy prey. She made everything happen according to my plan."

She had been possessing Jolie. Whenever chaos _could _ensue… she controlled Jolie and made the situation worse. That's why her inhibitions disappeared. That's why her eyes turned gold.

I took a deep breath.

"Where is she?"

"My baby? Oh, Perseus. Maybe Jolie's feelings are returned. I can sense the conflict in you."

"There is no conflict."

"Then, why don't you explain to your dear Annabeth what really happened that night?"

Annabeth looked at me.

"I shouldn't have to explain. You were possessing Jolie that night. You attacked me, forced me to do something I didn't want to. And right when you heard Annabeth come in, you made it look like my fault. Later that night, Jolie woke up and didn't remember a _thing._"

"May I relay to you that you _enjoyed_ what happened?"

"I DIDN'T! I WAS… and STILL AM IN LOVE WITH ANNABETH."

"Do not lie to yourself, Perseus. The conflict is building itself up. You don't really love Annabeth. Now… my child… I can sense it. You cannot lie to me."

"THERE. IS. NO. CONFLICT. You're the one who's lying. It's what you do. You're creating chaos because it _can_ be created."

Eris just shook her head and smiled.

I looked over at Annabeth. She was just looking at me, but I could see the wheels turning in her head.

"Where is Jolie?"

"Perseus. I finished what I had to do. Jolie was merely discarded. I had no use for her anymore. That car accident was for a reason, you know."

My heart dropped to my stomach and a lump formed in my throat.

Annabeth and I had been saved.

But Jolie…

She hadn't made it.

She was gone.

Tears poured down Annabeth's cheeks.

"You're a _monster!_" she screamed. "How could you do that to _your own child_?"

"She was a tool. Created specifically for this purpose. Her father, Adalberto Difficoltà was the perfect target. He immigrated to the United States from Italy to make his fortune. He had been a poor boy. I came to him when he was a teenager, and promised him all the success in the world. He only had to repay me when I came back to him. He quickly rose up in ranks until he became the CEO of his company. He was making millions of dollars. He was known internationally, won many awards. But did he pay any homage to me? Of course not.

"I came to him years later, disguised as a new secretary. So cliché… the boss and the secretary… it wasn't long before I was impregnated. I left him once more. He was heartbroken. Stupid, stupid man.

"Approximately nine months later, his little girl lay on his front doorstep, naked, crying. He knew who it belonged to. Alas, he could not find or contact that secretary.

"That's when I came to him again. He instantly recognized me from all those years before. I revealed myself to be that secretary. He was angry and ashamed. He still refused to pay homage to me. After all I had done for him! I told him he would regret that night. 16 years later, I destroyed him. Everything he had gained I took from him. Of course, he blamed Jolie. She was the instigator. She reminded him of me. Have you read the newspapers lately? My dear Adalberto put a pistol in his mouth. Poor dear. Now they shall add Jolie's obituary to his. Maybe they will bury her next to him… if they can find her body, that is. How sweet would that be, mmm?"

I was seething in anger. Annabeth was sniffling next to me.

I couldn't believe Jolie was gone. She was so innocent. She didn't deserve any of this.

It was my fault.

I dropped my head.

_You idiot, Percy…_

"Now, what shall we do? There is so much to be done. After all, my war is starting today. First, I must make my way to…no. Too simple. They're idiots. They can't get anything done. I guess I'll start with…"

"You won't start anywhere, _Mother_."

Eris stopped.

My head shot up.

Annabeth eeped.

Sitting on Chiron's back, who was backed by the Amazons and Camp Half Blood…

Sat Jolie.

She was alive.

"JOLIE! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Jolie hopped off of Chiron's back, who held a bow aimed at Eris.

Chiron walked with Jolie, who was slowly approaching Eris.

"The gods heard everything you just said. You miscalculated one simple thing."

"And what was that?"

"Percy saved Chiron. He was able to tell the gods who was behind everything. Thanks to him, you will be punished."

Eris looked to Chiron, then back at Jolie.

"How on earth did you survive that?"

"That would be thanks to me," Chiron jumped in.

"You?"

"I informed Hermes. Before the car hit the ground, Hermes flew down and grabbed Jolie and flew her to Olympus. Of course, by then, the gods knew everything. And I gathered everyone to come stop you. It's over now, Eris. You may as well surrender now."

"There's nothing that can stop me."

Suddenly, the room began to shake.

Everyone, including Eris, looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the chaos. For once… it wasn't Eris. And this frightened her.

Three bolts of lightning shot down from above.

It wasn't who you expected it to be.

Three… Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, right?

Wrong.

The three bolts emerged as Athena, Aphrodite and Hera.

They stood, side-by-side, just in front of Eris.

"You again. I should've suspected." Hera uttered.

"Out causing trouble again, Eris?" asked Aphrodite.

"Not a wise move, to mess with the gods." Athena growled. She then looked behind her and gave Annabeth a reassuring look. Annabeth gave her a small smile.

Eris didn't look the least bit intimidated.

"Well if it isn't the three uglies. Didn't we solve this problem before? I thought we had… you remember, don't you? Does a wooden horse ring a bell? Maybe… this?"

Eris held out her palm, and the Apple of Discord emerged, spinning as it had for us.

The three goddesses looked unimpressed.

"If you think that thing has any hold on us anymore, you're wrong." Said Hera.

"Such a stupid thing, really. We were most unwise to let it affect us so." Commented Athena.

"That's where it went! My apple! It rightly belongs to me. Give it back, Eris."

Eris smiled.

Athena and Hera looked at Aphrodite.

"Don't be so smug and cocky, Aphrodite. You both know that apple should've rightly gone to me, the Queen of the Gods."

"Nonsense. Wisdom is true beauty, for you need it to see the inner most soul."

"Pish-posh. Paris was a bright young man. He knew beauty when he saw it. Give my apple back, Eris. Now." Aphrodite held out her hand.

Athena slapped Aphrodite's hand down.

"No, Eris. Give it to who it _should _have gone to. We all remember all too clearly what happened when Paris gave Aphrodite the apple. What an unwise decision. None of that would've happened if it was given to me."

"You think you're so smart, Athena. Eris, give the apple to your Queen. I demand it."

And then all Hades broke loose. The goddesses began to argue, and the most epic and divine cat fight ever ensued.

The goddesses were shouting, pulling hair, tripping each other, slapping, kicking, cursing and calling names.

Eris just watched, the apple spinning in front of her.

Annabeth shouted continuously for her mother to stop.

Chiron and everyone else stood helpless. No one wanted to intervene in a goddess fight.

Another lightning bolt shot down from the sky.

Everything stopped and watched as the bolt morphed into an all-too-familiar form.

Zeus.

"Silence."

Zeus approached Hera, Athena, Aphrodite and Eris.

"Oh… well if it isn't my most divine _lord Zeus._" Eris sneered.

"I've heard enough of you already." Zeus uttered in a monotone. He snapped his fingers, and electric whips shot out and wrapped around Eris' body. She shrieked as she fell, stiff, to the ground. The golden apple rolled out of her grasp onto the floor. The three goddesses shot after it, once again commencing their fight. The apple bounced from grasp to grasp, never staying in the same hands for more than 2 seconds.

"ENOUGH!" Zeus bellowed. He held out his hand and the apple floated to him.

The three goddesses stood up, brushing themselves off, and subtly trying to inflict more trouble on each other.

"Do we have to do this _again?_"Zeus glared at the three goddesses.

They looked down.

Aphrodite looked into Zeus' face.

"No. We shouldn't have to do it again. It was given to me. It's rightly mine."

Athena and Hera looked up and were about to counter that statement, but Zeus held up his hand.

"No. A new decision must be made."

He looked up into the sky and bellowed.

"HERMES!"

Within 5 seconds Hermes had flitted down to Zeus' side.

"My lord Zeus. What can I do for you?"

Zeus held out the apple.

Hermes backed away.

"Oh no. Not this. Not again. Really?"

"Yes."

Hermes grudgingly took the apple.

"I know exactly who to give it to."

He flew over to where Annabeth and I were sitting.

With a snap of his fingers, we were released from our confining chairs.

Annabeth and I stood up, cramped and sore. I stretched my back out and Annabeth raised her arms above her head.

Hermes was looking at me.

"Perseus Jackson. I hereby give you the responsibility of bestowing the Apple of Discord to the fairest of the goddesses."

_Oh shit._

_Another choice to the same hero._

**POST AN:**

Hey guys! Woo. ::decramps fingers:: Long chapter there. But like I said, a lot needed to happen. And a lot _still _needs to happen. I thought I'd end this chappie with a little cliff-hanger.

I'll probably post chapter 13 sometime this weekend, so hang onto your pegasi.

Until the next chapter, Lovies!

-_Lily Salvatore Cullen_


	13. Of Wisdom and Love

"M-me? _Why?"_

Hermes just held the apple out to me. As if I'd take it… no thank you!

Zeus approached me.

"Percy Jackson, once you've been named by a god to do something, you cannot back out of it."

"Why are we even doing this again? Didn't this cause a war last time?"

Zeus paused to think.

"Yes. It did. But, it must be done. You cannot simply ignore history. The apple _must_ be bestowed upon a goddess. It is the way of things. Unless you want to be responsible for the destruction of civilization as we know it, then I suggest you take the apple."

"I don't understand."

Hermes jumped in.

"Percy, for the chronological timeline to continue the way it was always destined to, certain things must be, for lack of other words, in place. For instance, Kronos must remain in Tartarus. You recall very well what happened when he came out. Time ceased to exist to go along as it had been planned. It went along an alternate timeline, one that was not supposed to happen. For time to go back to the correct timeline, things must exist correctly. And now, the apple must be bestowed once more, as it had been all those years ago, for time to continue as planned again. It is a difficult concept. But in short, certain things must be done and in place as to not destroy life as we know it."

Great. If I didn't decide which goddess the apple would go to, we were all screwed. Wonderful. Another choice for me.

Oh man.

Hermes once again held out the apple. This time, I took it, albeit very hesitantly.

It was heavy, cold and smooth. I took some time to just examine it. All those fights for _this?_

Zeus snapped his fingers. The area around us morphed from a white marble to a colorful, warm game-show like setting. Hermes was now in a tux with a microphone. Red carpet covered everything, and huge, shining neon letters displayed on a blue backdrop read _CHOOSE THAT GODDESS!_

It was a little overboard. Even for Zeus.

Chiron, Annabeth, Jolie, the Amazons and everyone else that were with them were now seated in an audience section. Hermes stood behind a blue podium. The three goddesses: Athena, Hera and Aphrodite were nowhere to be seen, but I saw three blue curtains draped down in front of three stands.

I was now standing on a podium to the side.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Welcome to _CHOOSE THAT GODDESS!_ The ONLY show with 3 podiums, 3 goddesses, and ONE Apple of Discord!_"_

The audience applauded and cheered. I could see Zeus in the front row, speculating seriously.

"Now, please join me in welcoming our contestant. He saved Olympus two years ago, trains demigods in swordplay at Camp Half Blood, and is the son of Poseidon! Give it up forrrrrrrrr PERCCYYYYYYYYY JACKSONNNNNNNNNNN!"

A light shone on me. I raised my hand to block the light from my eyes.

The audience cheered ever louder.

"Come on out to the stage, Percy!"

Hermes beckoned me, coming out from behind his podium with his microphone.

I slowly made my way to him. The apple felt heavier and heavier in my hand. It reflected the weight of the decision I would have to make.

I had no idea who I was going to choose.

Hermes put his arm around my shoulders.

"Now, Percy. You are familiar with what you must do, yes? You must choose the most beautiful, gorgeous, dazzling, mystifying, eye-candy goddess and give the apple to them. Are you ready?"

"No."

"BRILLIANT! Let's meet our three goddesses!"

The three blue curtains lifted into the air and disappeared completely.

On the first podium, stood Hera.

"May I introduce to you, Hera! Queen of the Gods! Sister and Wife of Zeus, this blushing bride is the goddess of marriage and motherhood! But be cautious: she doesn't take kindly to cheaters! Let's hear a round of applause for Hera!"

Hera was dressed in a velvety, navy blue dress. Peacock feathers stuck out the back of her head, adorning the bun she wore. She held a pomegranate.

The applause was deafening. Hera curtsied a little bit, pretending to be shy and modest.

"Enough, enough! The next goddess on our podiums is grey-eyed Athena! This wise little headache sprouted fully grown from Zeus' head completely dressed for battle! She is the goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, defense and strategic warfare! Be careful, she may have a strategy to win this round!"

More applause. Athena displayed her silvery dress. Her earrings were silver owls, and a silver snake armlet coiled around her arm. Her hair was curled and was tumbling down one shoulder.

"And last but not least, this beauteous little dove was birthed from the ocean foam itself! Aphrodite is the goddess of love and desire, and who would know more than her! Married to Hephaestus, but desires his very brother Ares! First winner of the golden apple, past judgments state _she_ is the most beautiful of the goddesses! Will she be presented the apple for the second time? We shall see! Give it up for Aphrodite!"

There was clapping, cheering and wolf-whistling. Aphrodite made a huge show of herself. Her pink dress was glittery, and she had live doves posed in her hair. She had a necklace made of seashells.

"And that concludes the introductions! Ladies! Prepare yourselves! Percy Jackson, are you ready to choose?"

I felt like what Paris must have. All three of the goddesses were gorgeous. There was no way I would be able to choose between them. They all looked at me seductively, trying to make themselves seem more beautiful than the other two.

"Get ready! Set the clock to one minute!"

A large clock appeared.

"Percy, you have one minute to choose the most beautiful goddess! GET READY, GET SET… CHOOSE THAT GODDESS!"

A bell rang and the clock started to tick the seconds by.

59.

58.

57.

I looked at the three goddesses before me. I looked from Athena's grey eyes… the twin pair of Annabeth's… maybe her… to the oceanic blue eyes of Aphrodite. Her blonde hair was so much like Annabeth's… should I choose her? I looked at Hera. Annabeth's favorite fruit was pomegranate… maybe I'd choose…

24.

23.

22.

Couldn't I just choose all three? They all reminded me somehow of Annabeth. Had they planned that? Were they all trying to scheme and make me think of Annabeth so that I'd choose them? That was unfair…

3.

2.

1.

"!"

I jumped out of my thoughts and revelries.

"Percy! Have you made your decision?"

I looked at the goddesses again.

"I… um… well I think that… I choose… er… you see… I don't… uh…"

"Uh oh. We seem to have some indecisiveness about us! What shall we do about this? Ladies! What do you have to offer?"

"Percy."

I looked at Aphrodite.

"As you know, I am the goddess of love and desire. Don't think I _don't_ know what happened between you and Annabeth. It wasn't your fault. But I can fix that. I can make it so that never happened. I can erase Annabeth's memory of that night. She'll still be your girlfriend. She'll still love you like never before. I can fix your relationship. Choose me."

That… was extremely tempting. I'm choosing Aphrodite. No doubt about that! Annabeth… we'd be back together. It would be like that night never happened… I could…

But something felt wrong.

"Perseus."

I looked at Athena.

"If by some off chance you and my daughter get back together, I promise, that if you choose me, I will not harbor any ill feelings toward you, even though you are a son of Poseidon, but alas, we don't choose our parents, or the relationship. And on top of that, I shall make you as wise as any son of Athena. You will be like a son of mine. Annabeth called you a seaweed brain for a reason. Let me correct that. Choose me."

Hmm… I'd be really smart. And Athena wouldn't hate me! She'd leave me alone… oh man. Choosing Athena. I mean, who wouldn't want to be smart? Maybe she'd make amends with my father as well…

But once again. The same feeling that overcame me after what Aphrodite said overpowered me.

"Mr. Jackson."

I looked up at Hera.

"I will not offer you power, as I did Prince Paris all those years ago. In fact, I offer nothing to you that is to your personal gain. The only thing I can offer is peace on Olympus. I am queen of the gods. I can make this happen. Everything that has happened over the past few weeks, I can rectify. My husband and I shall talk, and we will fix everything. Choose me, Percy, and everything will be alright."

There was no bribery in this claim. In fact, it sounded about as genuine as Hera could get. She really wanted to fix things.

I waited for the feeling to come to me, but it didn't. Peace on Olympus… that was what was needed above all else. The goddesses couldn't fix my love life. I wouldn't want Annabeth's memories erased. I want her to come back to me… if she ever would… because she forgives me. Aphrodite can't fix what happened.

There would be a lot of questions if I was suddenly smart. How would I explain that? I suppose I'd come up with something really clever with my new brains… but I wouldn't be… me. And if Annabeth and I got back together… I know Athena doesn't approve, but that's one of the things that made our relationship stronger: knowing we could move past any obstacles. Even if that obstacle was her mother.

Peace on Olympus. That's what it had to be.

"Percy? Have you made your decision?"

"I have."

The three goddesses got excited.

I approached the podium.

"Lady Aphrodite…"

"Yes! I have triumphed once again!"

"Hear me out. Lady Aphrodite, you are without doubt a beautiful goddess, and what you offered to me was difficult for me to pass up."

"P-pass… up?"

"I cannot choose you. It wouldn't be right. I would be being selfish."

"I see…" Aphrodite's head dropped.

"Lady Athena. I know you don't like me. But you offering me wisdom like your very sons… I'm honored, but once again, I cannot take that offer. I would be betraying what it meant to be me. You are a beautiful goddess, but it is your wisdom that makes you even more breathtaking. I cannot choose you."

Athena looked away from me.

"Queen Hera. I realized, above all else, that it is what you offered which is what needs to happen. Your selflessness in that moment made you stunning. You shone in the moment you sacrificed your thoughts of beauty to the needs of Olympus and the rest of the world. If Olympus is in turmoil, so is the rest of the world. Knowing that you cared enough about the world and your family made me choose you. I hereby bestow the golden apple, the Apple of Discord, onto you."

I held out the apple to Hera. She was speechless. She tentatively reached out and took the apple from my outstretched palm. She merely looked at it, as if she couldn't believe that it was she who held it.

"Percy Jackson, I thank you. You put a lot of thought into your decision. And I also thank you for standing up for me when no one else believed me. Because of you, Olympus will once again remain without chaos. You are a true hero."

"Thank you, Lady Hera. Your words humble me."

The audience cheered the loudest they had yet.

Zeus stood up and snapped his fingers. The game show setting disappeared in a blink of an eye.

"Percy Jackson."

"Lord Zeus."

"Your decision made me realize how wrong I was to accuse my wife of the treachery I thought she had committed. Yes, my darling Hera, we will talk about what has happened, and we will rectify everything that went wrong."

"There is nothing I want more, dear brother and husband."

"Instead of punishing you to 100,000 years in Tartarus, as I had originally planned, I shall in place of you send the treacherous and traitorous goddess Eris."

From where Eris was laying, I could see her eyes widen and she began to shake her head quickly.

"Eris, goddess of chaos and discord, as King of the Gods, I sentence you to everlasting punishment in the realm of Tartarus."

With that, Eris disappeared with a flash of lightning.

And she was gone.

"There is this other matter of her daughter. That child was an instigator of much of the chaos that went on. I do not know if she should be allowed to exist any longer."

"I agree, brother. She must be destroyed for the good of us and the world. We cannot afford to let her live if she is capable of causing such strife."

Jolie began to shiver. Tears poured down her cheeks.

"But… wait… I can…"

"Jolie Difficoltà, daughter of Eris, goddess of chaos and discord, the Queen and King of the gods have hereby declared that your existence is…"

"WAIT! STOP!" I ran over to Jolie and blocked her from view from the gods.

"Percy Jackson, we appreciate what you've done for us once more, but…"

"You don't understand! Eris was possessing her during those times! She isn't dangerous. You can't destroy her. She's a good person. I know her. She isn't a bad person. Trust me. I take full responsibility of her. Don't kill her."

"We cannot trust her, Percy Jackson."

"Remember when you couldn't trust me? You wanted to destroy me? The fact that you didn't is why you are still in power! You _have_ to trust me. If… if Jolie does anything, which she won't… then… destroy me, instead. It's like you wanted to in the beginning. And because I will have been the one to spare Jolie… then… I offer myself instead."

The gods looked amongst one another.

"NO! Percy! You can't! I… I won't let you."

Annabeth ran up to me.

"You can't do this."

I looked at her sadly.

"I have to do what's right, Annabeth. Jolie is a good person. They can't destroy her. They wanted to destroy me all those years ago… let them do it now."

"Percy Jackson."

I looked at Zeus.

"It has been decided."

Annabeth began to cry.

"We have decided that… we have no reason not to trust you. What you say is true. We shall spare Jolie. There will be no reason to destroy either her or you. We owe this to you. And we are eternally grateful."

Zeus nodded and put his arm around Hera's waist.

"Now then. We shall return to Olympus and sort everything out."

With that, Zeus, Hera, Aphrodite and Hermes disappeared.

Athena approached me.

"Percy Jackson. I commend you for your wise decision. It was very selfless of you to choose peace. No son of Athena could've chosen better, and for more pure reasons than you."

"Thank you, Lady Athena… that is flattering coming from one such as yourself."

Athena gave me a small smile, then looked at Annabeth.

"Olympus is lovely, my dear. Truly the work of a daughter of Athena."

"Thank you, Mother."

"And… you are very lucky to know someone like Mr. Jackson here."

Annabeth looked down.

"Farewell. We will see each other soon, my love."

"Goodbye, Mother."

Athena disappeared much like her family had moments before.

I turned to Annabeth.

"Annabeth… I…"

"Percy… I need a few moments. I need to think. I… just need some space."

She turned from me and walked away.

I looked after her.

Hours later, I was sitting on the beach with Rachel. I had just finished telling her everything that had happened. Now, we were discussing the prophecy.

"What was it again? The whole thing? Both parts?"

I took out two slips of paper, both in Annabeth's writing, and handed them to Rachel.

She read the first one.

_Up on mountain high aloft_

_Chaos reigns and trust is lost._

_Elemental produce once again bestowed_

_Another choice to the same hero._

"Well, obviously, the mountain was Mount Whitney… or Mount Ida as it was. Chaos reigning… well, Eris. Duh. Trust is lost…"

"Me and Annabeth."

"No. Not you and Annabeth. From what you've told me, Annabeth still has feelings for you."

"What? She made it pretty clear she hates me."

"Percy, you're so dull. Annabeth still loves you. Trust me."

"Whatever."

"Anyway. Elemental produce. Gold is an element on the periodic table… and produce is fruit. Golden apple. Simple. Another choice to the same hero… you're the hero of Olympus. And you had to make another choice."

"What about the other one?"

Rachel unfolded the other slip of paper.

_First you'll meet a vengeful Queen_

_Bring back what was given, no matter how obscene._

_Into Hills of darkest Black_

_You'll encounter gold and an old attack._

_Here you'll find your missing friends_

_The girl will point you towards the end._

"The queen was Hippolyta II." I started.

"Right. And the golden girdle… you had to bring that back even though it seemed kind of stupid. I mean… a girdle? Come on. You can get those at Victoria's Secret."

"Apparently not gold ones."

"I suppose that's true. The Black Hills… gold… and King Midas… you found Chiron and Grover there… and Princess Eldorada, the girl, pointed you to where you needed to go. Tada!"

I leaned back and looked out at the water.

"What are you thinking about, Percy?"

"What else would I be thinking about?"

"Well then… I'll just… leave you be. You need to be alone right now. I can tell."

"Rachel… no. I'm sorry. I'll cheer up. I promise."

"Percy. It's okay. Take your time. It's fine, really. Take some time to be alone. You need it."

"Thanks, Rachel."

She smiled at me and got up and left.

I continued to stare out at the waves.

Soon, I found myself standing up and walking into them.

I looked up in the sky and was waist high in water.

White, fluffy clouds moved slowly through the azure sky. I could see the sun peeking out behind one of them, its rays burst out of the sides of the cloud.

I sighed.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Percy? Can we talk?"

I looked to my side to see Annabeth standing next to me, struggling to stay standing in the strong waves, almost knocking her over. I grabbed her waist to keep her steady.

"What do you need, Annabeth?"

Annabeth grabbed the sides of my face gently in her hands.

"Percy… I… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted. I believe you. I believed you the moment you told me what happened that night. I just… I don't know. I love you too much, and the thought of losing you was too overwhelming. Paired with everything else that was going on… I reacted way too strongly. It was wrong of me. I'm so sorry. I hope that… we can fix things… I hope… that you can forgive me… if not now… then… someday. Maybe we can be together someday."

"Annabeth…"

She began to cry. Her hands dropped from my face and they hugged herself.

I drew her into a hug. She buried her face into my chest. I rested my chin on her head.

"Of course I forgive you. And… and _I'm _sorry that I put you through all that pain. You didn't deserve any of it. I wish… I wish none of that had to happen. You don't know how tempted I was with Aphrodite's suggestion. I wanted to fix things with you more than anything… but… taking your memories… I couldn't do it. I need you, Annabeth. I love you. I need to be with you. I need… and want you with me."

Annabeth hiccupped and sniffled a little. She looked up into my face, her ashen eyes watery and sparkling.

"I could never _not_ be with you, Seaweed Brain. We belong together… we… we complete each other… we keep each other together… remember?" Annabeth smiled slightly.

"Yeah. We do, don't we?"

I wrapped my arms around her waist and drew her to me. Annabeth leaned in to kiss me. I turned my head. "Wait." Annabeth tilted her head in confusion. As much as I was dying to kiss her, I had to say this: "Mount Rushmore was great. I took an awesome picture of it at night… but… I have these tickets you see, that don't expire until December… so…" "OH PERCY! Really?" I smiled. "Of course. I've asked Chiron if we can go in August… for our anniversary… even if we hadn't made up… I wanted to bring you there. You've always wanted to go…"

And that's when Annabeth latched her mouth onto mine, and I could do no less than respond eagerly.

A little later, we returned, hand-in-hand to the camp. Everything seemed so normal, it was hard to believe that anything had happened in the past week. Clarisse walked by with her boyfriend Chris. She gave us a little nod and we waved back.

Continuing walking, we saw some younger demigods run by, being chased by Mrs. O'Leary. They were laughing hysterically and Mrs. O'Leary barked occasionally.

Grover and Juniper were up on the hill talking and snuggling. No doubt stealing a kiss or two.

Jolie walked by with some friends she had made in the Hermes cabin. Although a cabin for Eris was offered to be built, Jolie had declined, and asked if she could stay in the Hermes cabin. Connor answered "Of course!" rather quickly… and Jolie blushed profusely. I'm thinking we might see them together soon…

The Hades cabin was being rebuilt. A lot of progress had been made. I had spoken to Nico already, and he said he'd come stay for a few days after it was complete. Maybe a few weeks. It depended how he liked it. He secretly looked excited, though he tried so hard to hide it.

Annabeth leaned her head on my shoulder and I tightened my arm around her shoulders. She turned and kissed my cheek.

"I love you, Seaweed Brain."

"You missed."

"What?"

I turned her toward me and brought her lips to mine.

After awhile, we separated.

"I love you too, Wise Girl."

This summer had started out way too chaotic. It was nice to have this reprieve.

I had my Wise Girl back.

And I looked forward to spending a calm summer with her.

**AN**

Hey everyone! That is the last _chapter _chapter of _**Of Apples and Discord**_.

I can't believe that's it! Whoa!

I did write an epilogue. It's cutesy, and I think it's a great ending to the story.

But it's up to you guys. Review and let me know if you want the epilogue posted. If enough people ask for it to be posted, I'll post it! But like I said, some people might like how it ended here, some might want an expansion. It's in your hands, my lovely readers!

(Hopefully) until the Epilogue my lovies!

-Lily


	14. EPILOGUE: Of TieDye and Kisses

EPILOGUE

A few days after Annabeth and I made up, Camp Half Blood was electric with excitement. Chiron had informed us last night that the new shipment of camp T-shirts would be in this morning. All the campers were up early eating breakfast in the hopes of being the first to receive their shirts.

Seriously. Those shirts got so ratty. Even _I _was excited to get my new shirt.

A few hours after breakfast, Argus drove into camp with the strawberry truck.

All the campers swarmed around the truck as he got out and opened the back, revealing dozens and dozens of boxes all taped up.

Annabeth and I approached to help unload boxes.

"Percy… this is so exciting! New shirts!"

"I KNOW. I am _so _relieved. My shirt stinks. All the time. Even if I wash it."

Annabeth wrinkled her nose and smiled, shaking her head, mumbling, "Seaweed Brain."

I kissed her cheek and climbed in the truck and began handing boxes to the front so Annabeth could take them out.

After about ten minutes, all the boxes were unloaded.

I climbed out of the truck and ripped the tape off of a box.

Greeting my sight was a fresh smelling, soft, new set of… of…

_No way. _

Instead of the blazing orange…

White.

_White._

This was blasphemy.

I took out one of the shirts, unfolded it, and held it up.

There was a collective gasp around the camp. Annabeth put her hands to her mouth.

"Oh _no _they didn't. Nuh-uh. The shirts… they're… they're _white._"

I looked at Annabeth with a helpless expression.

"Well, we can't send them back…"

"No. We can't. But… they're all wrong… we can't…"

"Wait! I have an idea."

The camp was murmuring and complaining around us.

I walked over to Annabeth and whispered my idea.

She looked at me, grinning widely.

"Best idea you've ever had, Seaweed Brain."

"Right?"

Annabeth walked closer to everybody and put her hands up.

"Hey! Camp Half Blood! Listen up!"

Slowly but surely everyone quieted down and looked at Annabeth expectantly.

"Because our beloved Camp Half Blood T-shirts are _white_ instead of an awesome _orange_ like they usually are, Percy and I have decided that a tie-dying party is in order. This afternoon after lunch!"

The camp gave a deafening cheer and departed to their activities talking animatedly about the festivities later today.

Annabeth and I walked over to the Big House.

We needed Rachel.

Two hours later, Annabeth, Rachel and I emerged from the Big House with various bottles of different colored dyes and buckets of solution to soak the shirts in. This would be _awesome._

We set up a dozen or so stations around the Stadium. All the campers were eating their lunches. We would join them soon.

When we got to the Pavilion, cheering ensued once more. I stood up on my table to make an announcement.

"After lunch… hey. Guys. Quiet down… after lunch, everyone is free to head over to the Stadium to tie-dye their shirts. The boxes of the shirts are arranged according to size outside the entrance of the stadium. There are about 20 stations set up. Make sure you soak your shirt in the bucket of solution first, then put the rubber bands on it. Annabeth printed out some different designs, so go ahead and look at those for ideas. Then just pick your colors, and, well… tie-dye your shirts. There'll be a contest with a few different categories as to who has the best shirts, so BE CREATIVE!"

Everyone clapped and finished eating very quickly. Campers began filing out by the tens.

Annabeth and I sat down and ate our lunches. It was sort of awkward, because we were at our own tables and the only ones left in the Pavilion.

I made a joke of waving to her and shouting at her.

When we finished, we grabbed our shirts and headed over to the beach of the Long Island Sound.

We had set up our own private station there.

We kicked our shoes off and let our toes squidge in the sand.

"What kind of design are you doing?"

"I did some calculations and symmetry… if you fold it like… this… then this… then fold it over this way… twist here…"

Her tongue was sticking out. She was concentrating. Hard.

"…and put the rubber bands here… then it'll make an owl in the middle of the shirt!"

My mouth dropped.

"…You just… figured it out like that?"

"Yeah. What?"

"You're amazing."

Annabeth smiled.

"What're you going to do?"

"Just regular type. A cool spiral. I know how to do that one. And I don't have to think."

Annabeth laughed.

"What colors?"

"Blue and green."

"Figures."

"You?"

"The owl is going to be red… I just squirt it here…" (she pointed) "…and then I'm going to use blue. Hopefully, some of it will bleed together, and the red owl will be outlined in purple."

"It's going to look awesome. I'll vote for your shirt to win."

"Aw, thanks, Seaweed Brain!"

After we soaked our shirts, we walked over to the different assortment of colors.

I went for the blue right away.

Annabeth went for red.

I shook my bottle a bit and then popped open the cap.

_SPLAT._

Some spatters of blue dye flew through the air.

And landed in Annabeth's hair.

She had just been about to start putting the red on her shirt when she looked up with an incredulous expression.

"Please tell me that was sea spray, Percy."

"Um… it was sea spray?"

"You got blue dye in my hair."

"Yes."

Annabeth shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. One hand was on her hip, and she was looking down.

Trying to remain calm.

I stood up and gulped.

Loudly.

Annabeth looked at me with no expression.

Then she bent down, retrieved the red bottle, opened it, pointed at me and squeezed.

A jet of red dye splurged out and hit me right in my chest.

I just watched.

It looked like a cannonball had gone through my chest when she was done.

She set the bottle down calmly and brushed her hands off.

We looked at each other.

_It was SO on._

We both darted to the different bottles, opening them and attacking each other with them.

Streams of green, blue, red, yellow, orange, pink, and purple sprayed everywhere. It was a rainbow in the air… Iris would've been very pleased.

The battle continued for about 10 minutes. By the end of it, Annabeth and I were completely soaked in a rainbow flood of colors. And we were laughing uncontrollably. Annabeth walked over to me and hugged me around my waist. I hugged around her back and placed my forehead on her shoulder letting the last of my laughs leave my system. Annabeth dug her face into my chest giggling like a maniac.

"We're… we're a… mess… Percy…"

"I… I know… that was so… fun."

"I guess… even when Eris _isn't _around… chaos… is… inevitable…"

"But a… _good _kind of… of chaos… there's no… escaping… escaping it."

"You're… such… a seaweed brain… Seaweed Brain."

I stopped laughing, gulping in air, as did Annabeth. I looked into her eyes, placing my hand under her chin.

Then I whispered to her.

"But that's the reason you love me."

Annabeth closed the distance between us.

Our mouths connected, lovingly caressing each other's lips.

We separated.

Then Annabeth whispered back.

"Only too true."

I lifted her up bridal style. She gave out a shriek and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"PERCY!"

I started walking towards the ocean.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

"We need to wash off."

I smiled at her. She kissed my lips and smiled back.

"I suppose so…"

I willed myself to get wet as we entered the ocean together.

Our tie-dye shirts lay forgotten on the sands, piled one on top of the other… surrounded by puddles and specks of different colors.

The sun was starting to go down.

Pinks and purples and yellows and oranges splattered the sky, much like how the colors were on us.

We submerged under the water into the second best underwater kiss ever.

**AN**

And that is _IT_ my lovies!

Thank you so much for reading this fic, and thank you to those who stuck with me and reviewed.

Like I always say, my readers are my backbone. You are my motivation! I love writing and would keep doing it anyway, but knowing people read my stories makes it all the more worthwhile.

Thank you so much!

With love,

_LiLy-saLvatore-cuLLen_

P.S.

I will be commencing with my Harry Potter fiction, for anyone who is interested, _**I Love Him, He Loves Her, **_starting in mid-December when my break starts. Look forward to more frequent postings since I will have NO schoolwork to worry about!

Hopefully I will be able to get some inspiration for another Percy Jackson fic… ::runs to the bookshelf in search of Greek Mythology book::… What? That was how _this _one came to be! Just reading myths! :D

But other than that... sadly, I am OUT of ideas.

_Lily_


	15. Sequel Complete and Posted

**AN**

Hello my Lovely Readers! Thank you for reading _Of Apples and Discord._ I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Its sequel, _Of Sybils and Sunlight_, is now complete and posted. I hope you like it as much as you did this story!

Thanks again, and Happy Reading!

_Lily Salvatore Cullen_


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